National team
Kimmich wears black, red and gold: DFB ends debate on ties
Leads the DFB team against Peru: Joshua Kimmich (l) and national coach Hansi Flick. photo
© Arne Dedert/dpa
“No politics,” say Hansi Flick and Rudi Völler. The captain’s armband is an issue again before the national team restarts.
Just no more politics, just football, football, football: In a resolute Basta manner, Rudi Völler and Hansi Flick have declared the national team’s tiresome issue of ties to be over for the restart towards the home European Championship in 2024.
With the return of the black, red and gold captain’s armband, the highly emotional World Cup debate about the colorful one-love symbol should not flare up again. “We should look ahead. We should see that we play a good European Championship,” Flick postulated his hopes as national coach.
Joshua Kimmich, representing the injured Manuel Neuer, will wear the traditional captain’s armband in the national colors again at the start of the year in the first test international game on Saturday (8.45 p.m. / ZDF) in Mainz against Peru and then in Cologne against Belgium. This decision was made in discussions between sports director Völler, Flick and Kimmich. According to information from the German Press Agency, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf was involved and gave his okay. The news quickly made the rounds on the sidelines of Kimmich and Co.’s training session on the DFB campus in Frankfurt.
undesired effect
The effect unwanted by Flick: This decision, of all things, meant that the preparation for the Peru duel was again about socio-political issues – instead of just about sport. The fact that the end of Mesut Özil’s career also arrived as top news from Istanbul was not without a certain irony. With his photo scandal with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the ex-world champion had led the DFB into a sports-political dilemma, which negatively outshined the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Football without politics, that is perhaps above all a noble wish of Flick and Völler. At the big group photo with the U21 juniors on the DFB campus on Wednesday, Kimmich was almost hidden in the last row. Only his face could just be seen. In his 75th cap, however, all cameras and eyes will be on the piece of fabric on his upper left arm; inevitable, given the recent pad history.
The first question at the daily press conference to fan favorite Niclas Füllkrug almost inevitably revolved around the new DFB binding decision. “I think it’s very important that we also learn from this situation. Hansi was very open about the fact that our focus is entirely on football, on our performance,” said Werder striker Füllkrug. “I think it’s the right thing to do to signal that we’re doing everything we can to do our best and to make our fans happy and happy,” added the 30-year-old.
Lessons from World Cup experiences
Flick had previously emphasized that the topic was over for him. “I said everything about it. It shouldn’t be the case that these things are the focus again, the team should just play football. They should play football well, that’s their job. We agree on that,” he said National coach after the World Cup experience in Qatar.
The choice of color for the captain’s sign applies to all international matches up to the home tournament in the summer of next year. At the European Championship from June 14 to July 14, 2024, the continental association UEFA will again decide on the captain’s armbands. Logo and colors are not yet known. At the EM 2021, UEFA DFB captain Manuel Neuer allowed him to wear a rainbow-colored bandage after intense discussions.
The discussion about the captain’s armband with the One Love symbol escalated due to the dispute with FIFA at the World Cup before the first group game against Japan (1-2). Like some other teams, including England, Wales and the Netherlands, the DFB wanted to set an example for social diversity with the bandage. This had been temporarily prohibited by the world association with the threat of “unlimited sanctions”. The DFB then bowed and Neuer wore the bandage prescribed by FIFA.
hand-over-mouth gesture at the World Cup
At the time, the DFB players reacted to the FIFA dictate with a hand-over-mouth gesture during the team photo before the game against Japan kicked off. The mood was charged and certainly not conducive to concentrating on the sporting goals. After the sporting failure, ridicule erupted on the players. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) had worn the colorful bandage as a grandstand guest at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha and also received criticism for it.
After the inglorious end of the tournament in the group phase, the debate was not over and led to heated debates in the highest political circles, but also among many fans. Völler and Neuendorf also had to explain this to the sports committee of the German Bundestag.
Völler, who was appointed DFB sports director after the World Cup, spoke out in favor of the black, red and gold armband. However, this decision does not protect the DFB from political appropriation. The AfD had welcomed Völler’s push for the national colors, which the association quickly protested against. “Regardless of the design of the captain’s armband, black red gold stands for democratic values, for diversity, respect and community. And not for exclusion and intolerance,” said the association after the praise of the right-wing populist party.
