There were no surprises in Jogi Löw’s squad, but one name is still missing: Leverkusen’s Stefan Kiessling has set the Bundesliga on fire this season, but Löw prefers other options in Germany’s double header against Kazakhstan.
National team coach Jogi Löw has chosen to set his trust in Mario Gomez, Özil and Reus, who are providing the national team with enough firing power upfront according to Löw. Bayer Leverkusen’s striker Stefan Kiessling has once again been left out of the Germany squad, despite his 16 goals and 6 assists in 25 appearances in the Bundesliga so far this season. Löw pointed out that both Gomez and Klose are very important to the Nationalmannschaft, still. Furthermore, the 53-year-old thinks that bringing Kiessling back into the fray is pointless as things stand:
If he’s brought back in he needs to feel trusted. You can’t bring him back for one or two matches – but, for the long haul.
Löw even admitted that he has slight doubts about Kiessling’s abilities at a higher level than a Bundesliga setting:
Kiessling plays very well at Leverkusen. But, the air gets thinner at an international level.
Marco Reus is suspended in Germany’s away match in Astana, whilst Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mario Götze, Marcel Schmelzer and the aforementioned Reus all make their return to the national team after they missed out on the friendly against France due to injury woes.
Here are the players Jogi Löw nominated for Germany’s two matches against Kazakhstan:
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Rene Adler (Hamburg), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hanover 96)
Defenders: Jerome Boateng, Philipp Lahm (both Bayern), Benedikt Höwedes (Schalke 04), Per Mertesacker (Arsenal/ENG), Marcel Schmelzer (Borussia Dortmund), Heiko Westermann (Hamburg)
Midfielders: Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Schalke 04), Sven Bender, Mario Götze, Ilkay Gundogan, Marco Reus (all Dortmund), Sami Khedira, Mesut Ozil (both Real Madrid), Toni Kroos, Thomas Müller, Bastian Schweinsteiger (all Bayern), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal/ENG), Andre Schürrle (Bayer Leverkusen)
Striker: Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich)
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Header courtesy of Spiegel.
