Loew calls Kroos into Germany's squad

Real Madrid's Toni Kroos was called up for Germany's upcoming international duties, while Barcelona's net-minder Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Bayern Munich's defender Jerome Boateng were left out of the list.

Germany's head coach Joachim Loew said during Friday's press conference that he preferred to give Boateng and Ter Stegen some rest, adding that the latter has been recently suffering from a shoulder discomfort, reports Efe.

Loew explained that Kroos is to take part in the upcoming Netherlands-Germany match only so that he has more time to recover, while some players are back on for the November matches, including Marco Reus, Kai Havertz and Leon Goretzka.

Die Mannschaft only earned three wins out of 11 matches in 2018, including the two recent defeats to Netherlands (0-3) and France (1-2) in the newly-created UEFA Nations League.

Germany is set to host Russia in a friendly match on Thursday, Nov. 15, and then take on the Netherlands in a UEFA Nations League clash four days later.

The squad:

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Bernd Leno (Arsenal) and Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt).

Defenders: Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea), Niklas Sule (Bayern Munich), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Monchengladbach), Jonas Hector (FC Koln), Nico Schulz (TSG Hoffenheim), Thilo Kehrer (Paris Saint-Germain) and Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen).

Midfielders and forwards: Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Julian Draxler (Paris Saint-Germain), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), Timo Werner (Red Bull Leipzig), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen), Leroy Sane (Manchester City), Mark Uth (Schalke) and Sebastian Rudy (Schalke).

--IANS

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