The ongoing international break is crucial for Hansi Flick as he looks to get Germany back on track after a difficult six months. Germany was knocked out of the World Cup 2022 in the group stages, while performances in the last international breaks have been poor. The former Bayern Munich manager needs to get positive results for Germany this week to keep his job.
Since Germany has already qualified for Euros 2024 as the host nation, they will be playing friendly games during this break. The German team will be hosting Japan on Saturday at Wolfsburg before travelling to Dortmund for the game against France.
Ahead of the friendly game against Japan, Flick made a crucial change to the leadership group of the national team. While talking to the press on Friday (via GGFN), Flick confirmed that Ilkay Gundogan is the new captain of the national team. Gundogan is set to lead the side against Japan on Saturday.
Joshua Kimmich has been selected as deputy to Gundogan. In the absence of Gundogan from now on, Kimmich will be leading the national team on the pitch. Following this announcement, it does look like Manuel Neuer may not be a big part of the team’s plans moving forward. Neuer has been Germany’s skipper since the retirement of Bastian Schweinsteiger in 2016. The German goalkeeper has been on the sidelines for the last eight months due to a leg injury.
Thomas Muller is also on the fringes of the national team, so it was not surprising to see him missing out on the captaincy. Kimmich and Gundogan are set to be key players for Germany even if Flick is sacked in the near future, so it makes sense to include both midfielders in the leadership group.
Joshua Kimmich is already part of the leadership group at Bayern. He has been wearing the armband in the first three league games due to the absence of Neuer. The German midfielder certainly ticks all the boxes when it comes to being a leader in the team. Joshua Kimmich is in the peak of his career, so the new leadership role with the German national team comes at the right time for him.
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Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry, and Thomas Muller are also expected to feature for Germany during the ongoing international break. Jamal Musiala was set to join the squad for the game against France, but Bayern confirmed on Thursday that the youngster will miss both games for Germany due to a minor injury.