Germany coach Joachim Low has revealed the 23 players that he will take to France this summer as Die Mannschaft look to win Euro 2016.
The 56-year-old made his announcement on Tuesday regarding the four players to miss the final cut, with Julian Brandt, Karim Bellarabi, Marcos Reus and Sebastian Rudy dropping out from the provisional 27-man group.
While the remaining players will now continue preparations for this summer’s tournament, which includes a friendly against Hungary on Saturday, that quartet will leave training camp having been left disappointed not to make it to the final squad.
Low noted in the press conference that Reus has missed out through injury, while adding that he “would have been an asset” for the World champions in France.
“Reus can only run straight run now,” Low said in his news conference. “He could do no more in training. The medical staff was sceptical that he would be fully fit.
“It’s a bitter decision for him and us. He would be a major gain for our team if he was fit.”
While Germany will now have to make do without the Dortmund star next month, their final 23-man squad will continue to prepare for their opening game against Ukraine in Lille on June 12.
Nevertheless, they still have fitness doubts over both Mats Hummels and Bastian Schweinsteiger, although Low is evidently confident enough that the pair will recover from their respective injuries in time to feature.
Germany squad for Euro 2016
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)
Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Emre Can (Liverpool), Jonas Hector (Cologne), Benedikt Howedes (Schalke), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia), Antonio Rudiger (Roma)
Midfielders: Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Sami Khedira (Juventus), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Julian Draxler (Wolfsburg), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United), Julian Weigl (Borussia Dortmund)
Forwards: Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Andre Schurrle (Wolfsburg), Lukas Podolski (Galatasaray), Mario Gomez (Besiktas), Leroy Sane (Schalke)