The DFB has announced that you will wear a captain's armband in classic black, red and gold this Saturday (20.45 p.m. in the F.A.Z. live ticker for the national football team and ZDF). Was that also your wish?

Christian Kamp

Sports editor.

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There was a conversation with the president, with Rudi Völler, the coach and me, and we decided together that we wanted to play with the bandage in black, red and gold.

Was there another discussion or other opinions?

No. I believe that now is the time to concentrate completely on the sport. This does not contradict the values we represent. Accordingly, the discussion is now also ticked off.

But it was a complicated situation: they couldn't do anything without sending a signal. Every bandage is now a statement.

In the past, a captain's armband was there to show who the captain is, and I think that should be the case now. As far as concrete political signals and discussions are concerned, our President is above all the one who has to play the role and should speak. We players would do well to focus on our task. We are here to perform and win games. But again, at the same time, that says nothing about our attitude. Whether we wear a black, red and gold captain's armband or one in rainbow colours on our arms: We have often commented on the values we stand for and have taken a corresponding stance.

In Qatar you said that it was a pity not to be able to look forward to a World Cup anymore. How does it feel with a bit of distance? Was it not just a World Cup lost in terms of sport, but one that you personally lost? You don't have that many players as a player. Or do you perhaps even see a sense in retrospect?

At the end of the day, the World Cup was a big political issue that shouldn't have affected us players so much. I am of the opinion that, in principle, this should rather be a matter for the association and politics. The balance between football and political issues was not right. If we had won the games, maybe we would talk differently today. But it is also clear that we did not fly out because of the debate about the bandage.

Not because of the bandage as such, but when the first game was lost, there was a problem.

But that had nothing to do with the pad. Of course, many are now saying: Did they absolutely have to set an example? But that certainly didn't affect us in the 90 minutes against Japan.

If you look ahead as captain and leading player: What is the most important thing now to make the home European Championship a success the summer after next?

Preparation begins now. For me, the upcoming games are not test matches and certainly not friendly matches. For me, these are really preparation games that we should and must take very, very seriously. We should also use them to develop automatisms and find rhythm so that a team consolidates itself and processes develop. Other countries have set the best example, Italy before Euro 2020 or now Argentina, which was unbeaten for over 30 games before the World Cup.