Emre Can the new man in Löw's Germany squad
August 28, 2015Germany coach Joachim Löw has called up Liverpool midfielder Emre Can for the upcoming European Championship qualifying matches against Poland and Scotland. Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen of Barcelona, Hoffenheim's striker Kevin Volland and defender Matthias Ginter of Borussia Dortmund were all recalled.
Sami Khedira, Benedikt Hoewedes, Erik Durm and Antonio Rüdiger are out with injuries, but Lukas Podolski kept his place ahead of favored Patrick Herrmann of Gladbach. Both Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno and Borussia Dortmund's Marcel Schmelzer both missed out despite good form, with squad regular Ron-Robert Zieler and Cologne left back Jonas Hector retaining their respective spots.
Can could get his Germany debut against Poland next Friday in Frankfurt or against Scotland in Glasgow three days later. Löw says Can is a versatile player who has "developed well" at Liverpool. Can was listed as a defender in Löw's squad Friday but usually plays in central midfield.
After six games, Germany is second in Group D, one point behind Poland and one point ahead of Scotland.
Squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hannover 96)
Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Emre Can (Liverpool), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Dortmund), Jonas Hector (Cologne), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia), Sebastian Rudy (Hoffenheim)
Midfielders/Attackers: Karim Bellarabi (Bayer Leverkusen), Mario Götze (Bayern Munich), Ilkay Gündogan (Borussia Dortmund), Christoph Kramer (Bayer Leverkusen), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Max Kruse (Wolfsburg), Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich), Mesut Özil (Arsenal), Lukas Podolski (Galatasaray), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Andre Schürrle (Wolfsburg), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United), Kevin Volland (Hoffenheim)
jh/ (AP)