Joshua Kimmich details Diomandé’s qualities before the Germany vs. Ivory Coast game at the World Cup By Thiago Lemos
2 min read
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The Germany team is preparing intensively for its next challenge in the World Cup, a clash against Ivory Coast scheduled for next Saturday. Leipzig forward Yan Diomandé has emerged as one of the crucial players under the radar of the team led by coach Julian Nagelsmann. Midfielder Joshua Kimmich, one of the German pillars, highlighted the opponent’s impressive skill and anticipated a challenging match against the African nation.
“About a year ago, his projection on the football scene was much lower. He had a remarkable season, even with Leipzig facing some adversity during the period. His dribbling ability is truly exceptional, reminiscent, to a certain extent, of Kingsley Coman’s moves at Bayern Munich in previous stages. He has extraordinary speed. However, there are other talented athletes for whom we also need to prepare carefully”, noted Kimmich when commenting on Diomandé.
The young athlete, just 19 years old, stood out as the leader in direct goal contributions for his club, Leipzig, during the last edition of the German Championship, the Bundesliga. Data from the statistics portal Sofascore reveals that Diomandé successfully completed 118 dribbles, a number significantly higher than that of second place, Norwegian teammate Antônio Nusa, who recorded 68 dribbles.
In their debut at the World Cup, last Sunday, Germany achieved an impressive 7-1 victory over Curaçao. Despite having opened the scoring, the four-time world champion team conceded an equalizer in the 20th minute. However, the team promptly restructured itself to secure a comfortable victory, avoiding any surprises in the opening match.
The start of this World Cup has been marked by several unexpected results, which defy expectations. Spain, for example, failed to come back from 0-0 against Cape Verde, while Belgium also recorded a 1-1 draw in their game against Egypt.
“In general, it is clear that it is increasingly complex to emerge victorious from matches, both in terms of technical excellence and tactical development. The level of balance between the teams is progressively increasing. Teams considered to be powers still need to improve their performance to overcome lesser opponents”, analyzed Kimmich about the current scenario of the tournament.
The match between Germany and Ivory Coast, valid for the second round of group E, will take place on Saturday, starting at 5pm (Brasília time). The venue for the confrontation will be the Toronto stadium, located in Canada.
