Reigning World Champions Germany have announced their final 23-member squad for the UEFA EURO 2016 in France.
Germany head coach Joachim Löw has dropped Karim Bellarabi, Julian Brandt (both Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund) and Sebastian Rudy (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim) from the squd after examining 27 players during a preparation camp in Ascona, Switzerland.
“We purposely took more players to this training camp because we had a few here with knocks. During the first week, I wanted there to be a battle for certain positions on the training pitch,” Löw told during a press conference in Ascona today. “My coaching team and I discussed the decision yesterday and the day before in detail. It was also important to have another talk with the medical staff. It’s a very painful decision to make from a personal point of view. I know that the players are deeply disappointed. But on the other hand, they have to use this as a motivating factor for the coming years.”
“In Marco Reus’ case, the medical staff couldn’t give us a clear prognosis,” continued Löw. “Marco has serious fitness problems; he can only run in a straight line at the moment. The doctors are sceptical that he would be able to give his all in these demanding games at this demanding tournament in the coming weeks. It was a painful decision for both us and him and a real disappointment for everyone. A fit Marco Reus in good form would have been a huge asset for our team.”
Germany will face Hungary in their final preparation match ahead of the European Championship final on Saturday. The squad will be released for a two day break after the match, before they travel to their base cap in Evian for the tournament.
“Die Mannschaft” will kick-off their UEFA EURO 2016 campaign against Ukraine in Lille on June 12.
GERMANY SQUAD
Goalkeepers
1-Manuel Neuer (FC Bayern Munich), 12-Bernd Leno (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), 22-Marc-André ter Stegen (FC Barcelona)
Defenders
2-Shkodran Mustafi (FC Valencia), 3-Jonas Hector (1. FC Köln), 4-Benedikt Höwedes (FC Schalke 04), 5-Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), 14-Emre Can (FC Liverpool), 16-Antonio Rüdiger (AS Roma), 17-Jerome Boateng (FC Bayern Munich)
Midfielders/Forwards
6-Sami Khedira (Juventus Turin), 7-Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United), 8-Mesut Özil (FC Arsenal), 9-André Schürrle (VfL Wolfsburg), 10-Lukas Podolski (Galatasaray Istanbul), 11-Julian Draxler (VfL Wolfsburg), 13-Thomas Müller (FC Bayern Munich), 15-Julian Weigl (Borussia Dortmund), 18-Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), 19-Mario Götze (FC Bayern Munich), 20-Leroy Sané (FC Schalke 04), 21-Joshua Kimmich (FC Bayern Munich), 23-Mario Gomez (Besiktas Istanbul)