Kimmich: It's Extremely Painful, and We Deserved to be Eliminated from the Tournament
Joshua Kimmich, the captain of the German national team, spoke in a press statement following the elimination from the World Cup by penalty shootout against Paraguay in the Round of 32, after the regular and extra time ended in a 1-1 draw.
Kimmich said in statements after the match: "It's extremely painful. We did not perform well against any of our opponents, and we struggled a lot in the three matches against teams that are not considered top-tier globally, and that's a fact. We deserved to be out of the tournament."
He added: "The painful truth is that we struggled in every match we played. We never showed the character that everyone is used to seeing from the German national team. We lacked the sharpness, confidence, and winning mentality that has always characterized German football, and this is the truth we must accept."
He continued: "We deserved the elimination because we simply weren't good enough. In the World Cup, if you don't consistently perform at your best, you won't continue. Paraguay played with more faith, courage, and determination than us, and they deserved to qualify with full merit."
He went on to say: "I understand the anger of our fans because I feel exactly the same. Seeing the fans leave the stadium feeling sad was one of the hardest moments in my career. They deserved beautiful memories, but we gave them a disappointment that will stay with them for a long time."
Kimmich concluded his statements by saying: "This defeat will haunt us all. We have to take responsibility, learn from this failure, and rebuild the team anew, because wearing the Germany jersey means fighting until the last moment, but today we were very far from the level imposed by this emblem."
Kimmich said in statements after the match: "It's extremely painful. We did not perform well against any of our opponents, and we struggled a lot in the three matches against teams that are not considered top-tier globally, and that's a fact. We deserved to be out of the tournament."
He added: "The painful truth is that we struggled in every match we played. We never showed the character that everyone is used to seeing from the German national team. We lacked the sharpness, confidence, and winning mentality that has always characterized German football, and this is the truth we must accept."
He continued: "We deserved the elimination because we simply weren't good enough. In the World Cup, if you don't consistently perform at your best, you won't continue. Paraguay played with more faith, courage, and determination than us, and they deserved to qualify with full merit."
He went on to say: "I understand the anger of our fans because I feel exactly the same. Seeing the fans leave the stadium feeling sad was one of the hardest moments in my career. They deserved beautiful memories, but we gave them a disappointment that will stay with them for a long time."
Kimmich concluded his statements by saying: "This defeat will haunt us all. We have to take responsibility, learn from this failure, and rebuild the team anew, because wearing the Germany jersey means fighting until the last moment, but today we were very far from the level imposed by this emblem."
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