‘I’ve never even reached the knockouts’ - Germany’s Joshua Kimmich on World Cup disappointments

Joshua Kimmich is one of the brightest stars of his generation and a key player for both Bayern Munich and the German men’s national team. But success at a FIFA World Cup? That has more than eluded him. The 31-year-old’s entire senior international career has coincided with the dramatic decline of the former world champions.

Speaking this week ahead of Germany’s international friendlies against Switzerland and Ghana, Kimmich reflected on the bitter disappointments of the past and the optimism of the present moment.

“You find ways to deal with defeats and disappointments. In football, these things are often closely intertwined,” Kimmich stated for SWR Aktuell BW, as captured by @iMiaSanMia. “Right now, everything feels good; let’s see how things will look in four weeks.

“With the national team, there were a lot of tournaments that weren’t good. I joined in 2016 – we played a very good European Championship that year and won the Confederations Cup a year later. After that, to be honest, things were very, very lackluster. I’ve never even reached the knockout stage of a World Cup.

“The last European Championship two years ago in Germany was okay, but we still got knocked out in the quarterfinals. Accordingly, there are still very big goals with the German national team – although we know, of course, that everything has to go perfectly if we want to make a serious run.”

Is this summer finally the moment? One thing is for sure. If Germany does finally get back to the mountain-top, it will be Kimmich at the center of it all.

If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…

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