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What's the story?
Germany Manager Joachim Löw has announced a 22-member squad for June's round of UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifiers against Belarus and Estonia. The major names that missed out on making the team are Barcelona keeper Marc Andre ter Stegen and Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos who were both ruled out due to injury.
In case you didn't know...
The qualifiers for the UEFA 2020 European Championships began in March with the 55 contesting teams drawn into 10 groups consisting of 5 or 6 teams each. Germany last tasted international success in 2017 when a young Die Mannschaft side lead by Julian Draxler won the FIFA Confederations Cup, defeating Chile in the final.
The 4-time world champions are currently lying a miserable 13th in the latest published FIFA Rankings, after underperforming in the UEFA Nations League, where they finished third in Group 1 which also contained France and Netherlands. Joachim Low's team had a tough time especiall in away fixtures, Losing 3-0 and 2-1 to Netherlands and France respectively. Germany currently lie 2nd in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group C, behind Northern Ireland.
The heart of the matter
After a terrific season with Barcelona where he won the La Liga title, ter Stegen will be disappointed to miss out on the Germany squad due to a knee problem. Midfield lynchpin Toni Kross will also be a big miss for Germany, with the Real Madrid man ruled out due to a muscular issue. Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger was dropped following a poor season in the Premier League and there was no place also for Arsenal's Shkodran Mustafi after an error-prone season with Arsenal.
Joachim Low, who lead Germany to the FIFA 2014 World Cup title, is clearly building a squad towards the 2022 World Cup, having already announced he won't be considering Bayen Munich's highly experienced trio of Thomas Muller, Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng in the near future.
Full Squad
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) (Captain) ,Bernd Leno (Arsenal), Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Defenders: Niklas Sule (Bayern Munich), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Monchengladbach), Marcel Halstenberg (RB Leipzig), Jonas Hector (Cologne), Lukas Klostermann (RB Leipzig), Thilo Kehrer (Paris Saint-Germain), Nico Schulz (Hoffenheim), Niklas Stark (Hertha Berlin), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)
Midfielders: Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Paris Saint-Germain), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City),
Forwards: Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich),Leroy Sane (Manchester City), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Timo Werner (RB Leipzig).
What's next?
Germany face Belarus on June 8 and Estonia on June 11 as part of the UEFA Euro 2020 Qualification in Group C.
