Germany coach Joachim Löw has named his final 23-man squad for Euro 2016. Fitness concerns have kept Borussia Dortmund star Marco Reus off of the team.
Löw trimmed the list of players Germany will take to the Euros down to 23 on Tuesday, cutting four players from the squad.
Borussia Dortmund attacker Marco Reus was surprisingly left out due to injury.
Löw also opted to drop Bayer Leverkusen pair Karim Bellarabi and Julian Brandt. Hoffenheim’s Sebastian Rudy was left off the team as well.
Euro 2016 is the second straight tournament that Reus will miss because of fitness concerns. He was also cut from the 2014 World Cup-winning side after picking up an injury in a pre-tournament friendly.
“At the moment [Reus] can only run straight ahead,” Löw told reporters when announcing the squad. “It’s a bitter decision for us and for him. He would have been a valuable asset.”
Captain Bastian Schweinsteiger had an injury scare of his own heading into the team’s training camp in Ascona, Switzerland.The Manchester United midfielder suffered a serious injury while training with the national side in April and has not played since. Ultimately, however, Löw opted to take him and another player with injury worries – Bayern Munich bound-defender Mats Hummels.
“The doctors confirmed that Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mats Hummels will be able to play at the tournament,” Löw said.
Striker Mario Gomez will be playing for Germany at a tournament for the first time since Euro 2012. Injuries and a dip in form had cost him a spot on the 2014 World Cup team, but a strong season at Besiktas has seen him return to the fold.
While Reus’ absence will surely be a painful one for the team and fans alike, Löw’s squad selection has given a big opportunity to a number of young players. Josha Kimmich, Julian Weigl and Leroy Sane will all be playing for Germany at an international tournament for the first time. They have less than five caps between them, but their good form in the Bundesliga has seen them included in the final roster.
Löw’s side suffered a surprise 3-1 loss at home to Slovakia in their most-recent friendly in Augsburg on Sunday. They play Hungary in Gelsenkirchen on June 4 in their final match ahead of the Euros.
Germany kick off their Euro 2016 campaign against Ukraine on June 12.
The full squad:
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona), Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen).
Defenders: Jonas Hector (Cologne), Benedikt Höwedes (Schalke), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia), Antonio Rüdiger (Roma), Emre Can (Liverpool), Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund)
Midfielders: Sami Khedira (Juventus), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Mesut Özil (Arsenal), Andre Schürrle and Julian Draxler (both Wolfsburg), Thomas Müller and Joshua Kimmich (both Bayern Munich), Julian Weigl (Borussia Dortmund), Lukas Podolski (Galatasaray), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United).
Strikers: Mario Götze (Bayern Munich), Mario Gomez (Besiktas), Leroy Sane (Schalke)
