Joshua Kimmich stepped in on Tuesday to defend Leroy Sané after the forward was criticized for his display in Germany's 7-1 win over Curaçao. Kimmich said he did not understand why the backlash had grown so loud after such a one-sided result.
The Germany captain, speaking at a press conference, said Sané had been extremely committed, had sprinted back to help defensively and had been the first to celebrate goals. In Kimmich's view, that showed the winger put the team first and had played a good game from the team's perspective.
That response mattered because the criticism had not faded with the scoreline. A Kicker poll found that 77% of readers, 64,221 votes in all, believed Sané should not start against Ivory Coast, a sign that the debate around him was still alive even after Germany scored seven. Kimmich pushed back against that mood, saying Germany does not judge players internally only by whether they score.
The friction is simple enough to see. Sané was being judged after a victory that should have settled the conversation, yet the complaints kept coming, including over body language that Kimmich said had long been a point of criticism. He argued that Sané's manner on the field showed the team mattered to him, which is why he said the criticism made little sense.
What remains open is whether Sané will start against Ivory Coast. Kimmich's remarks were a public defense, not a lineup answer, but they made clear that at least inside Germany's camp, the case against Sané is not shared by everyone.
