Löw frees up Kroos

German national team coach Joachim Löw has decided to give Real Madrid star Toni Kroos some time off, his name not appearing on the squad list for the friendlies against France and Holland. Mario Gómez has, however, been brought back into the fold and young striker Leroy Sané and goalkeeper Kevin Trapp are to be given their big break.

Sané is the most eye-catching addition, since Trapp was expected to get an opportunity sooner or later as one of the young goalkeepers the national team bosses have been watching, along with Marc-André ter Stegen and Bernd Leno.

Sané will only feature in the squad for the first friendly against France next Friday in Paris as he will then join the under-21s for their European Championship qualifier against Austria on 17th November. Besides Kroos, another senior squad absentee is Mesut Özil, while Sami Khedira, Julian Draxler and Ron-Robert Zieler have all made the cut once again.

Löw has selected 25 players in total, including four goalkeepers. The complete squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers:

Manuel Neuer (Bayern), Ron Robert Zieler (Hannover 96), Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen) y Marc André ter Stegen.

Defenders:

Jerome Boateng (Bayern), Emre Can (Liverpool), Mathias Ginter, Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Jonas Hector (Colonia), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia), Antonio Rüdiger (Roma) y Sebastian Rudy (Hoffenheim).

Midfielders:

Karim Bellarabi, Christoph Kramer (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler, André Schürrle (Wolfsburgo), Ilkay Gündogan (Borussia Dortmund), Thomas Müller (Bayern), Lukas Podolski (Galatasaray) y Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United).

Forwards:

Mario Gómez (Besiktas), Max Kruse (Wolfsburgo), Leroy Sané (Schalke) y Kevin Volland (Hoffenheim)