Joshua Kimmich: ‘It is very hard to win the World Cup twice in a row’

The Bayern and Germany defender will be a key member of Joachim Löw’s side as they try to retain the trophy in Russia

“Of course we have big hopes,” Joshua Kimmich says as he finally allows himself to turn his gaze towards Germany’s opening World Cup game against Mexico in Moscow on Sunday. “Some of us were here last year in Russia and we have a very special feeling. When we won the Confederations Cup we had a very young team and it was a great experience to fight together and win together. We have most of our really big players back for the World Cup but we will show the same fighting spirit we had in Russia last summer.”

Kimmich is one of the best young players in Europe and, at 23, he is likely to illuminate the tournament in much the same way he did at his first major championship. At Euro 2016 he had just broken into the Germany squad but he played with such fluency and verve at right-back he was selected for the team of the tournament. Last year, in Russia, predictions that Kimmich will be a future national captain became even more persuasive.

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