They are the best hopes for a brittle Germany to outflank England on Wembley’s wide open spaces on Tuesday evening. They are the strength, the rationale of a 3-4-3 formation designed to upgrade a team that has known some very low ebbs. Joshua Kimmich and Robin Gosens are both 26, but that’s just about where the likeness stops.
Kimmich, right-footed, and Robin Gosens, better with his left, form an unlikely partnership, though when Germany have been at their best in a turbulent, tense and inconsistent Euro 2020, they have been the crucial axis, the device by which Portugal were stretched and conquered 4-2. That is Germany's only victory so far.
Bayern Munich's Kimmich, he has strongly hinted, would rather play elsewhere in the team. His decorated career has been spent largely in two roles, central midfielder and right-back, and at Bayern, where he won his sixth successive Bundesliga title in May, the preferred position lately has been anchoring the midfield.
Atalanta's Gosens, meanwhile, has to pinch himself to believe he is at a major tournament at all. He only made his Germany debut last September and when he received a text message from manager Joachim Low before his first call-up, his immediate instinct was “This is a prank.”
He re-read the message, convinced it was one of his friends playing a joke. “My first thought”, he recalled in his recently published memoir, “was that ‘Joachim Low wouldn’t write in that way.’”
His suspicions were misplaced. He agreed to chat, Low responded straight away to arrange a time.
So it was that Gosens reached another landmark moment in his haphazard late-bloom of a career, one that, most unusually for a Germany international, has completely bypassed the Bundesliga.
As a young aspiring footballer, with pace, strength and a fine left foot, he had trials to join Borussia Dortmund's youth system, but the verdict from Dortmund, a club famed for its talent-spotting, was a firm 'No'. He was approaching his 17th birthday, and he felt, with that rejection, "the door to professional football had been shut even before a way in had been glimpsed. Not just shut, but bolted with heavy bars," he writes in his book, It's Worth Having Dreams.
Portugal 2 Germany 4: player ratings
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PORTUGAL RATINGS: Rui Patricio - 7: Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper produced two fine stops from a Havertz drive and Gnabry strike at start and end of first half - amongst other good saves - on busy afternoon. Had less joy preventing teammates scoring own goals. AP -
Nelson Semedo - 5: Patrico’s Wolves teammate under constant pressure from the excellent Gosens and given poor support. Little opportunity to push on from right back. Reuters -
Pepe - 5: Veteran was up against it at start as Germany piled on pressure in opening 45 minutes but still found energy to launch lung-bursting overlap in final third just before half-time. Hard day at office for 38-year-old as Germany ripped defence apart time and again. AFP -
Ruben Dias - 6: Centre-half had to be on toes after 11 minutes to block Gosens’ shot. Tried to set-up teammate with header at other end of pitch when he should have gone for goal 10 minutes later. Unfortunate own goal to level scores at 1-1 and was helpless against an excellent German attacking effort. Getty -
Raphael Guerriero - 5: Broke the deadlock against Hungary in opening game but put ball into own net in disastrous fashion after 39 minutes here. Failed to stop supply line coming in from Kimmich down right. EPA -
Danilo - 5: Portugal played with two holding midfielders but, like Carvalho, PSG man couldn’t handle opposition’s energy and quality. AFP -
Bernardo Silva - 5: Played key role in first goal picking out Jota with lovely left-footed ball, who then supplied Ronaldo, but did little else and Portugal were over-run by Germany down his right flank. Hooked at half-time. EPA -
Bruno Fernandes - 4: Manchester United midfielder looked off the pace. Mixed bag with his distribution and caught in possession in key moments. A huge disappointment. EPA -
Diogo Jota - 7: Showed real composure to control pass then set-up Ronaldo for opening goal. Should have hit target header just before half-hour mark but did fire home virtually on goal line to make it 4-2. Reuters -
Cristiano Ronaldo - 8: Two goals in the opening game, tapped home from close range here after starting counter-attack by winning a header from corner in own box. Now has 107 strikes for Portugal – two short of Ali Daei’s international record. Set-up Jota for second. PA -
SUBS: Renato Sanches – (On for Bernardo Silva 46’) 5: Bludgeoned one long-range strike against the post but if Portugal were hoping he would help stem the German tide, they were sadly mistaken. EPA -
Rafa Silva – (On for Carvalho 58’) 5: Made little impact. Reuters -
Joao Moutinho – (On for Fernandes 64’) 5: Portugal pulled goal back just after he came on but coudn't inspire an unlikely comeback. Getty -
Andre Silva – (On for Jota 83’) N/A. AFP -
GERMANY RATINGS: Manuel Neuer - 6: The 35-year-old Bayern Munich keeper had little to do bar picking ball out of net on two occasions. Beaten all ends up by Sanches’ thunderbolt strike that hit post. AP -
Antonio Rudiger - 7: Defender who enjoyed a little nibble of Paul Pogba’s back in the opening game nearly crossed the line with a couple of challenges against the Portuguese. Soplid from the Chelsea man overall. Reuters -
Matthias Ginter - 7: Barring the sensational Portugal counter-attack for the opening goal, strolled through match untroubled although did pick up booking for reckless foul on Jota. Getty -
Matts Hummels - 7: Dortmund defender brought in from exile by manager Low and was a calming influence at the back. One of several key players who was given rest after fourth goal. Getty -
Joshua Kimmich - 8: A constant threat down the right and he supplied superb cross that Gosens cracked home in first few minutes only to be ruled out for offside. Provided cutback six minutes before break was shinned into own net by Guerriero and inch-perfect cross headed home by Gosens for fourth goal. Reuters -
Tony Kroos - 7: Real Madrid man controlled middle of midfield as Germany dominated possession. Passing is a joy to watch although did give the ball away needlessly a couple of times in second half. EPA -
Ilkay Gundogan - 8: Has just enjoyed prolific season in the English Premier League and while there no goalscoring opportunities here, he was the midfield fulcrum for Germany. Excellent from the Manchester City man. EPA -
Robin Gosens - 9: Denied acrobatic early goal when Gnabry was caught offside. First time volleyed cross-come shot was turned into own net by Dias and supplied quality ball into middle for Havertz goal. Headed home fourth himself in Man of the Match performance. Getty -
Kai Havertz - 7: Champions League winner with Chelsea had Patricio at full-stretch to save his left-footed drive and was denied chance to equalise after 35 minutes when Dias beat him to cross to score own goal. Got his goal when he tapped home just after break. Booked in second half. Reuters -
Thomas Muller - 7: No chance to add to his 39 international goals bar one weak first-time shot saved by keeper but played a part in three of the German goals. Clearly relishing being back in German set-up. AP -
Serge Gnabry - 8: Has prolific scoring record for Germany but livewire attacker almost showed his assist skills with superb curling cross into box 25 minutes. Denied goal his performance deserved just before half-time when he skipped past Pepe but saw shot saved by Patrico. Getty -
SUBS: Marcel Halstenberg – (On for Gosens 62’) 6: Replaced the brilliant Gosens and slotted in with little problem. Reuters -
Emre Can – (On for Hummels 63’) 6: Dortmund player came on with match in the bag at 4-1. AFP -
Leon Goretzka – (On for Havertz 73’) 7: Clipped top of crossbar after surging run and shot. Getty -
Niklas Sule – (On for Gundogan 73’) 7: One excellent challenge to deny Semedo chance to cross into box. AFP -
Leroy Sane – (On for Gnabry 87’) N/A. Reuters
Gosens, rejected in Germany, had to rise gradually via a circuitous route, helped by his mixed background. His father is Dutch, his mother German, and he grew up very close to the Germany-Netherlands border, fluent in both languages.
Dutch club football would find a space for him. He earned a junior contract at Vitesse Arnhem, a club which takes many talented young players on loan – notably from Chelsea – because it has a good reputation for its schooling.
Gosens never reached the first-team at Vitesse, though, and was nearly 20 when he played a senior competitive match for the first time, on loan at Dordrecht in the second tier of the Dutch league.
Meanwhile, by the end of his teens, Kimmich was already on the fast-track to the big time. He had done his apprenticeship at Stuttgart and was identified by the most upwardly-mobile club in Germany as a prodigy they wanted to help them with their climb.
He joined wealthy RB Leipzig in the third tier, won promotion immediately and before the club could persuade him he should commit to their rapid ongoing transformation into Bundesliga heavyweights, Bayern had offered him a long-term future. Kimmich signed a five-year deal with Bayern just before his 20th birthday.
The rest can be summed up in the praise and trust Kimmich has gained from coaches such as Pep Guardiola and Hansi Flick, under whom he won the 2020 European Cup.
He has been dubbed ‘The New Phillip Lahm’, after the versatile World Cup-winning German captain. He is every manager’s reliable problem-solver. The only problem is that he commands two positions so well there’s a dilemma which one to use him in.
Kimmich is in his third major tournament with Germany. He will play his 59th match against England, aiming to deliver his searchlight crosses and expert dead balls. Gosens, brilliant at in Serie A over the past two seasons, will play only his 11th international.
On one flank, Kimmich, the model professional. On the other, Gosens the maverick, the wild-card confronting whichever of England’s many fine right-backs has to marshal him. Low needs both at the top of their form.
