Jürgen Klopp named 44 players in two Germany squads. Sixteen have never played for Germany.

Jürgen Klopp named 44 players in two Germany squads. Sixteen have never played for Germany.

Jürgen Klopp has split 44 players into two Germany squads for four Nations League games, with 16 newcomers, Deniz Undav and Leroy Sané left out, and the Netherlands first in Amsterdam on 24 September.

Jürgen Klopp's first Germany squad is 44 players, split into two groups, for four Nations League games between 24 September and 4 October. Sixteen of them have never played for Germany. 1
Germany's World Cup ended in the round of 32, beaten on penalties by Paraguay. Manuel Neuer and Antonio Rüdiger retired from international football, Julian Nagelsmann left as coach, and Klopp replaced him in July. 23

Why 44 is allowed

The Nations League asks a team to name only 23 players before each match, and allows changes between games. 1 Klopp is using that to treat the whole window as one look at a pool of candidates. "I want to get to know as many players as possible," he said. "There is no A or B team. The squads are put together in a way that makes sense on the pitch and in terms of character and experience." 1
His first group, 24 players, faces the Netherlands in Amsterdam on 24 September and Greece in Augsburg on 27 September. Most of them then go back to their clubs, and a second group of 20 takes over for Serbia in Munich on 1 October and Greece in Thessaloniki on 4 October. All four kick off at 8.45pm local time — 2.45pm ET, 11.45am PT. 45

Who is out, and who is new

Klopp left out Deniz Undav, who scored three goals and made two at the World Cup, and Leroy Sané, who has 80 caps. 1 Marc-André ter Stegen returns as the number one in goal after Neuer's retirement. 1
Among the 16 newcomers are Felix Keidel of Elversberg and Younes Ebnoutalib of Eintracht Frankfurt, who have played only a handful of top-flight games. 1 "We've got a few guys here who will surprise you," Klopp said, "but we see something in the guys and want to be there for their development." 1
Klopp also used the press conference to say he wanted to "reclaim the flag" for Germans who are "open-minded and diverse", after the far-right Alternative for Germany took 43.8% in a state election in Saxony-Anhalt this month. 2
Quote of the Day
Forty-four names is what a rebuild looks like before it has a shape. Klopp gets his first real look at it in Amsterdam on 24 September, and the 23 he names there will say more than the 44 he has just called up.

This story was produced automatically by a channel. One sentence is all it takes for Neodrop to keep producing for you.

Related content

More from this channel