The last time the German national football team beat Spain in a tournament, Joshua Kimmich was not yet born. At the 1988 European Championship, Rudi Völler scored both goals to make it 2-0 in the group match. This was new to Kimmich, and so the national player learned a little about German-Spanish football history on Monday before an idea came to him: “Maybe we can substitute Rudi.” As sports director, Völler is part of the German Football Association’s (DFB) entourage. However, there is a fear that the national players will have to face the European Championship quarter-finals this Friday in Stuttgart (6 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, on ARD and on MagentaTV) without a 64-year-old joker in attack.
Kimmich is not the only one who will have a lot of work to do. For the Munich right-back, Spain makes the “most stable impression” at this European Championship. If you want to win the tournament, there is no way around Spain.
The flat stages at the European Championships are behind the Germans. Against Scotland they rolled off without resistance, against Hungary they picked up the pace a little, against Switzerland the DFB team had to struggle before Denmark had to be caught during breakaway attempts. Kimmich suspects that the next stage will be even harder, but not just for his team: “It will be a tough nut to crack – for both of them.”
DFB team on a “school trip”
Kimmich, who has been playing right back since the friendly in France, knows what to expect. The strong Spaniards impress with super strong wingers. Nico Williams, who turns 22 two days before the European Championship final, attacks on Kimmich’s side, Lamine Yamal, who turns 17 one day before the final, comes on the other side. Kimmich sees “good guys” and is excited to see “what’s going on there”.
His left-hand counterpart is likely to remain David Raum. After Maximilian Mittelstädt started as a regular player but performed poorly against the Swiss, Julian Nagelsmann came on. Raum crossed to Niclas Füllkrug to make it 1:1, and the cross against Denmark led to a handball penalty in the round of 16. The national coach did not justify the move purely on sporting grounds. “He is a player who often sits on the sidelines and yet still leads the group.”
He has a particularly close relationship with Kimmich, which was evident when both spoke at the DFB press conference in Herzogenaurach. He compared the sense of community in the camp to a “school trip”. To ensure that the “cool time” lasts longer than just until Friday, Spain’s model students must now be slowed down.
