Germany coach Hansi Flick has hinted at his 2022 FIFA World Cup plans by leaving Mario Gotze and Mats Hummels out of his 24-man squad for upcoming UEFA Nations League games against Hungary and England. (More Football News)
Flick surprisingly called up Southampton defender Armel Bella-Kotchap for the first time on Thursday, saying the 20-year-old former Bochum center back “has defended well in the Premier League.”
The upcoming games against Hungary in Leipzig on September 23 and England in London three days later will be the last before Flick names his 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which begins on November 20.
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Germany play Japan in Doha on November 23, four days before they face Spain in Al Khor, where they also play their last game in Group E against Costa Rica on December 1. “We the coaching team are already in World Cup mode,” Flick said Thursday, when he recalled defenders Matthias Ginter and Robin Gosens.
Flick said 2014 tournament winners Götze and Hummels “can still jump on the World Cup train” depending on their performances for Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund, respectively. That also applies to players like Julian Draxler, Jonathan Tah or the injured Lukas Klostermann.
The team is scheduled to gather Monday in Frankfurt to prepare for the upcoming games. Bayern Munich has seven players in the squad, while Dortmund has four in Marco Reus, Julian Brandt, Niklas Süle and Nico Schlotterbeck.
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Germany Squad:
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Defenders: Armel Bella-Kotchap (Southampton), Matthias Ginter (Freiburg), Robin Gosens (Inter Milan), Thilo Kehrer (West Ham), David Raum (Leipzig), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Niklas Süle (Borussia Dortmund)
Midfielders: Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City), Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Lukas Nmecha (Wolfsburg)
Forwards: Timo Werner (Leipzig), Kai Havertz (Chelsea), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sané (Bayern Munich), Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich).
