The German national team has a new captain!
Ilkay Gündogan (32, FC Barcelona) will lead the German team in the future. National coach Hansi Flick announced this at a press conference for the upcoming international matches against Japan and France.
The new captain is Ilkay Gündogan
Gündogan new national team captain!
“We have a change. “We thought about it: What would help the team,” Flick explains the nomination for Gündogan: “With the national team it’s usually like this: whoever has the most international matches is also the captain. I decided to give Ilkay the captain’s armband. Together with Jo (Joshua Kimmich, editor’s note) this now makes up our leadership duo.”
Gündogan has played 67 international matches so far. Manuel Neuer, who was previously the captain of the national team, already has 117 international matches under his belt.
Flick continued: “I’m really happy that both of them have committed to it. This gives us new energy that we can put to good use.”
“Ilkay will take on a different role than he does now,” added Flick.
And what happens when Neuer is fit again after his serious leg injury and is back between the posts at FC Bayern? Flick left that open: “The situation with Manu is that he has to get healthy first. We hope he comes back soon. But these are things that the future will write, and I’m not going to worry about them now.”
Gündogan is looking forward to his new task: “I don’t see myself as a decisive player, but I believe that I have the qualities to make my teammates better.”
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But Flick is confused again when it comes to Kimmich’s personality. BILD had revealed that the Bayern star played as a right-back in the secret test against the U20s.
Flick to this: “A lot has come out this week, I don’t have to say anything explicitly anymore. All I can say is that Jo is a very important player for us, he has enormous qualities that he can bring to the table in different positions. He is an absolute professional and puts himself at the service of the team. It’s the coach’s job to put him where he can give us the most. We are happy about the flexibility he has, that we have such a player in our ranks.”
But Flick doesn’t want to commit completely, even though the experiments should actually be over. BILD therefore asked the national coach again: Should Kimmich now play on the right? Flick: “It’s important that the team gets used to it. We will decide where he can play the decisive role for us depending on the opponent. I don’t want to tie everything down there. We have to retain some flexibility.”
How does the national coach approach his playoffs and how does he deal with criticism? Flick: “I hardly read anything anymore, that’s good for me. In professional football there are often dynamics that you cannot foresee. I really want to look after the team and I’m proud of it. It’s great fun. You don’t always get the results you hope for. We all know that tomorrow’s game and the one against France are very important.”
Flick continued: “We hope that a good game will give us confidence in the team again. It’s about learning from the past, that’s our aim. Now we have agreed on a playing philosophy and tried to convey that to the team. We want to keep the intensity high.”
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