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Joshua Kimmich Appointed Germany Captain, Marc-André No.1 Goalkeeper
Joshua Kimmich hasn’t been the permanent Germany captain, but has often donned the role when other players were injured or unavailable.
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Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich was named the new captain of Germany’s national team following the retirement of his predecessor Ilkay Gündogan.
Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann confirmed the news on Monday.
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“The captain places the team’s opinion with the coaching team. Kimmich was the logical successor,” Nagelsmann said.
Joshua Kimmich’s New Chapter
Kimmich has been selected for the role after a string of senior players retired from the Germany team including Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller and Manuel Neuer.
The 29-year-old Kimmich will be backed up by two vice-captains, Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger and Arsenal forward Kai Havertz, when he officially takes up the captaincy for upcoming Nations League matches against Hungary on Saturday and the Netherlands on Sept. 10.
Kimmich hasn’t been the permanent captain for Bayern Munich or the German national team before, but has often donned the role when other players were injured or unavailable. He last featured as a Germany captain in friendly games last year.
Kimmich had worn the captain’s armband 17 times in a career spanning 91 international games, the German football federation said. That total appeared to include games in which Kimmich took over the reigns when another player was substituted.
Also Read: Thomas Muller’s Records At Bayern Munich In Numbers
Marc-André To Succeed Neuer
On Monday, Nagelsmann also confirmed Barcelona’s Marc-André ter Stegen as Germany’s first-choice goalkeeper following the retirement of Neuer.
The decision was widely anticipated given that Ter Stegen has spent much of his international career so far as Neuer’s backup.
“Marc-André is the new number one. He has been captain in Barcelona for several years and is the clear number one there. He’s the same with us. I don’t want to artificially heat up the competition behind him”, Nagelsmann said.
Largely having remained as a side-kick to Neuer, Marc-André has only made 40 international appearances for Germany after making his debut in 2012. The 32-year-old is yet to feature in a major international tournament, but was a member of the squad that won the 2017 Confederations Cup.
Marc-André has several options as back-up including Oliver Baumann, Alexander Nübel, Kevin Trapp and Bernd Leno. They have all received call-ups in recent years.
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