Werner can be German goal king: Kimmich
GERMANY full-back Joshua Kimmich has tipped team-mate Timo Werner to make a major impact at the World Cup, starting tomorrow against Mexico.
Werner has supplanted Mario Gomez as the Germans’ firstchoice striker, and Kimmich, who has known the RB Leipzig man since they were both 13, believes he has the ability to justify the faith shown in him by coach Joachim Low.
Bayern Munich star Kimmich (right) said: “He showed at the Confederations Cup last year, and in the matches after that, how good he is.
“With his speed he is a weapon for us. I’ve known him since I was 13 when we played together in the youth teams at Stuttgart.
“He’s a very important player for us and I told him that
I haven’t been part of a tournament where he wasn’t leading goalscorer.
“At the moment, he’s very calm.”
The Germans played a perfect qualification, winning all 10 games, conceding just four goals in the process, and also clinched the Confederations Cup last year. But their recent form is far from World Cup-winning quality. “We are aware that we need to improve our game,” 2014 World Cup winner Toni Kroos said. “It is having the absolute will that is going to be the deciding factor and every one of us needs to fill up on self-confidence. These two things will be decisive in this game.”
Low’s team have managed just one win in their last six — a lackluster 2-1 victory over lowly Saudi Arabia in the final warm-up — and only kept one clean sheet. MANCHESTER City forward Gabriel Jesus has said that Brazil have a “balanced” World Cup squad courtesy of their “perfect defence”.
Brazil, the only national team to have lifted the World Cup five times, will face Switzerland in their first match in Rostov-onDon tomorrow.
“We should be a cohesive team, like a family. We are focused on the upcoming match, this is what the coach requires from us, and that really helps us,” Jesus (right) said.
“Everyone keeps talking about our attack, but players who tackle opponents should not be forgotten. We have a perfect defence, which makes our team balanced.”
The 21-year-old added that he wants to etch his name into the history books.
“We (Brazil) have had many great teams, we should give them proper respect. If we win, we’ll join these ranks. I do not want to take someone’s place, I just want to go down in history,” he said.
As Switzerland captain, Stephan Lichtsteiner has worked at close quarters with Granit Xhaka for years — and knows exactly how much potential he has. Xhaka extended his stay at Arsenal by signing a new contract on Wednesday, and his new club team-mate feels he is only going to get better.
“I’ve known Granit for more than six or seven years, he’s just an amazing player,” Lichtsteiner said.
“He’s very good and still young. It’s not easy to be the direct leader at 23 or 24-years-old, I hope I can help him to become bigger and bigger.”