Löw calls up Gerhardt, Gnabry and Henrichs

Nine World Cup winners, returnee Mario Gomez and three Germany U21 players have been named in the Germany national team for the last two international fixtures of 2016. Benjamin Henrichs (Bayer Leverkusen), Yannick Gerhardt (VfL Wolfsburg) and Olympic Silver medallist Serge Gnabry have all been called up to the squad from the U21s. Germany face San Marino in a World Cup qualifier on 11th November at 20:45 CET. Then they take on Italy in a friendly on 15th November at 20:45 CET in Milan.

Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Max Meyer (Schalke 04) and Leon Goretzka (Schalke 04) have all been called up as well. Leon Goretzka made his first appearance for the Germany national team in the 0-0 draw against Poland in Hamburg in 2014. The squad is made up of 25 players altogether, eight of whom are 21 years old or younger.

Löw: "We have to beat San Marino"

Head coach Joachim Löw spoke about his squad announcement. “We are taking the last World Cup qualifier this year just as seriously as the previous three. Our goal has to be to beat San Marino and increase our lead at the top of our group. At the same time, we want to give young players the chance to prove themselves at an international level. We will see Serge Gnabry, Yannick Gerhardt and Benjamin Henrichs play. We have taken note of their good performances over the last few months and they all deserve the call-up.

Leroy Sané (Manchester City), André Schürrle (Borussia Dortmund) and Antonio Rüdiger (AS Roma) are not part of the squad. Sané has been called up to the Germany U21s after recovering from his long-term injury. Schürrle and Rüdiger are training at their own clubs after returning to fitness in order to get back into the swing of things.

Özil rested, Kroos and Khedira to play against San Marino only

Mesut Özil (Arsenal) is being rested for the upcoming international fixtures. Joachim Löw has also informed Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) and Sami Khedira (Juventus) that they will only feature in the World Cup qualifier against San Marino. “Other top European leagues don’t have a winter break like we do in the Bundesliga. Therefore, it’s necessary that we give these players that are playing regularly for both club and country a rest.”

”We can’t be arrogant about the match against San Marino. Instead, we need to be fully focused on getting the win. Playing against the World Champions will be something special for San Marino,” said Löw.

Germany face Italy in their last match of 2016

Germany will play their last match of the calendar year against Italy on 15th November in Milan. The two four-time World Cup winners last faced each other at the 2016 European Championship in France. Germany beat Italy 6-5 on penalties in the quarterfinals, their eighth win against them. The other 26 meetings between the two sides have ended in a draw eleven times and the Italians have won on 15 occasions. Germany last played a match in Milan on 15th November 2013 when Mats Hummels scored in a 1-1 draw.

Joachim Löw looked ahead to the match against them. “Italy are traditionally one of the best teams in world football and we have a big rivalry with them. It’s the kind of match that everybody looks forward to. I’m sure that Italy are highly motivated for the game against us, but we will be trying out a few new things since it is a friendly.”