Just three players from the team that won the World Cup in Brazil have made it into Germany’s Confederations Cup squad as Joachim Löw experiments ahead of their defence in Russia next year.
Matthias Ginter, Shkodran Mustafi and Julian Draxler made the 23-man squad for the 2017 Confederations Cup, whilst Löw has opted for a relatively inexperienced squad at international level, naming seven uncapped players at the time of the announcement: Kevin Trapp, Marvin Plattenhardt, Kerem Demirbay, Diego Demme, Lars Stindl, Sandro Wagner and Amin Younes.
Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos, Mesut Özil and Thomas Müller are just a few names that have been excluded from the squad following a busy domestic season.
With just 30 caps, PSG’s Draxler will captain Germany during the tournament, whilst his 30 games under Löw makes him the most experienced player in the squad.
Australia vs Germany
The opening game in Group B will see Germany pit their wits against Australia and whilst this won’t be an easy game, Löw’s side are expected to top their group which includes Chile and Cameroon.
Germany are coming into this competition on good form, recording eight wins and two draws in their past 10 games whilst they’ve conceded just two goals in the process, scoring 31.
Australia head coach Ange Postecolgou had nothing but praise for the Germans.
“They’re doing the right thing,” says Postecolglou. “They’ve stated that they want to win a World Cup in 12 months time and this is part of their preparation for it. We’ll be ready for it.
“At the end of the day it’s Germany footballers come tournament time, they always perform well,” he added. “While others may think there’s some sort of weakened aspect to it, that’s not how we’re approaching it. One thing we won’t underestimate is their ability to play the kind of football they’ve been renowned for.”
Although the youthful squad in this tournament, the players picked by Löw are vastly experienced at domestic level, whilst they will be hoping they can impress the World Cup winning coach ahead of their defence next year in Russia.
Probable line-ups
Australia: Ryan; Wright, Degenek, Sainsbury; Milligan, Mooy, Behich, Leckie; Irvine, Rogic, Juric.
Germany: Leno; Kimmich, Ginter, Rudiger, Hector; Can, Brandt, Goretzka, Stindl, Draxler; Wagner.
