Four long shots make first Germany cut
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
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With just a cap between them, Julian Brandt, Leroy Sané, Joshua Kimmich and Julian Weigl are the surprise inclusions in Germany's 27-man UEFA EURO 2016 selection.
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Midfielders Julian Brandt, Leroy Sané, Joshua Kimmich and Julian Weigl are the biggest surprises in Germany's provisional 27-man squad for UEFA EURO 2016.
The quartet are all 20 barring the 21-year-old Kimmich, and only Sané has been capped at senior level to date. "We have had an eye on them all for a while," explained coach Joachim Löw after revealing his selection at the French Embassy in Berlin. "Sané is incredibly quick, Weigl is playing very well at BVB, Kimmich is versatile and Brandt is skilful and pacy."
There is also room for injured captain Bastian Schweinsteiger. "He is still recovering but he is back doing running exercises," Löw noted. "We will have to see when he can return. If he does not make it, we will have to make a decision on who will be captain. If he is fully fit, he will be an important player for us."
Germany will do the bulk of their preparations for the final tournament at a training camp in Ascona, southern Switzerland, from 24 May to 3 June. They will play a friendly against Slovakia in Augsburg on 29 May before the squad is reduced to 23 men for the finals. Their final dress rehearsal ahead of UEFA EURO 2016 comes against Hungary in Gelsenkirchen on 4 June. Following a two-day break, Germany will head to their EURO team base at Evian-les-Bains on 7 June.
Provisional Germany squad for UEFA EURO 2016
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern), Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona), Bernd Leno (Leverkusen).
Defenders: Jérôme Boateng (Bayern), Jonas Hector (Köln), Mats Hummels (Dortmund), Benedikt Höwedes (Schalke), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia), Emre Can (Liverpool), Sebastian Rudy (Hoffenheim), Antonio Rüdiger (Roma).
Midfielders: Sami Khedira (Juventus), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Mesut Özil (Arsenal), Marco Reus (Dortmund), Julian Draxler (Wolfsburg), Karim Bellarabi (Leverkusen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern), Julian Brandt (Leverkusen), Julian Weigl (Dortmund), Leroy Sané (Schalke).
Forwards: Lukas Podolski (Galatasaray), Thomas Müller (Bayern), Mario Gomez (Beşiktaş), Mario Götze (Bayern), André Schürrle (Wolfsburg).
Germany's Group C fixtures
12/06: Germany v Ukraine (Lille Métropole)
16/06: Germany v Poland (Saint-Denis)
21/06: Northern Ireland v Germany (Paris)
