Widmer new Mainz captain

In his press conference before the DFB-Pokal meeting with Erzgebirge Aue on Sunday evening Bo Svensson confirmed that Switzerland full-back Silvan Widmer would be captain for the coming season.

Svensson on the captaincy: “Silvan Widmer will be the captain this season. He has only been at the club a year but he has lots of experience. He always performs on the pitch and also has a good head off the pitch to deal with the responsibility of being captain. Ultimately, many others could have been named captain. It is important to me that the players that should also take on responsibility know this. At the end of the day who wears the armband is important but it is much more important that we have boys that will take on responsibility.”

Svensson on Widmer’s deputies: “In the case that Silvan is not on the pitch, those that wore the armband during pre-season friendlies will captain the side. So Robin Zentner, Dominik Kohr, Karim Onisiwo and Alexander Hack. But I also think that players like Jonny Burkardt, Anton Stach and Leo Barreiro have to step up and take responsibility, as well as Jae-sung Lee, who still has a few issues with the language barrier but has played lots of international games for South Korea. So the responsibility will fall on lots of shoulders and everyone can bring something different to the role. I think that the boys know exactly what is expected of them on and off the pitch.”