The debate about who coach Joachim Low should pick as the new captain of the team has continued and it even entered a new dimension when DW sport writer Michael Da Silva canvassed support for Jerome Boareng, saying he represents multicultural German and should be picked over others.
Since former captain Bastian Schweinsteiger resigned from international football following the exit from the Euro 2016 where they were favourites to lift the title, the captaincy has been void.
The German national team is at a crossroads at who should be the next person that will lead German soccer. Schweinsteiger is one of the most celebrated players of the Die Nationalmannschaft, he was sterling when he dragged the country beyond regular time at the World Cup final against Argentina in 2014. His performance was impressive that he was handed the captain’s armband. With a generation of German soccer players exiting, Philip Lahm, Miroslav Klose, Per Mertesacker and now Bastian Schweinsteiger, the new captain has a huge task to manage the team as they experience a lot of changes.
Coach Joachim Low has committed himself till the World Cup billed for Russia in 2018, but he needs the right mind in the players’ ranks as they hope to defend their title and stamp a foot in world football as they seem to be waning.
The top four contenders are Manuel Neuer, Sami Khedira, Mats Hummels aside Jerome Boateng. Neuer seems like the likely candidate to get the arm band but there is a case circulating that Boateng should be picked. The former Man City and Hamburg player has grown into a world class player at Bayern Munich. Nicknamed ‘The Rock,’ Boateng has been sterling for Germany as well. With his appointment, the player would be the new face of multicultural Germany, especially in the face of growing segregation, racism and immigration issues worldwide.