Nagelsmann brings Hummels back and nominates three newcomers
Mats Hummels is playing for Germany again
Source: dpa/Tom Weller
Julian Nagelsmann announces his first squad as national coach. He relies on two world champions from 2014. Four Dortmund players and Timo Werner are not taken into account. There are three debutants, one of whom is already 32 years old.
Mats Hummels is again part of the German national football team. The new national coach Julian Nagelsmann has called up Borussia Dortmund’s defensive star for the upcoming trip to the USA. Also there is Thomas Müller from FC Bayern, who was recently nominated and who became world champion together with Hummels in 2014. Leon Goretzka, who was not nominated recently, is also part of the squad again.
However, Hummel’s BVB colleagues Nico Schlotterbeck, Emre Can, Karim Adeyemi and Felix Nmecha were not taken into account. Due to injuries, Serge Gnabry and Kevin Schade and Benjamin Henrichs have to pass. His Leipzig colleague Timo Werner is also missing from the new beginning after Hansi Flick. Nagelsmann succeeded him in September and is expected to lead the national team to a successful home European Championship in the summer of 2024.
Three players with whom Nagelsmann surprises could help: Chris Führich from VfB Stuttgart is there. The 25-year-old offensive player from the Bundesliga runner-up is playing a key role in his club’s upswing with two goals and four assists. Nagelsmann also relies on midfielder Robert Andrich (29) from Bayer Leverkusen and the 32-year-old striker Kevin Behrens from 1. FC Union Berlin. None of the three have yet played for the senior national team.
“We are a new coaching team and want to see as many players as possible in the national team,” Nagelsmann commented on his decisions before the games in Hartford against the USA (October 14th) and three days later against Mexico in Philadelphia: “It is our goal that we get used to each other as quickly as possible in the short time we have and try to implement the content in the few training sessions.”
Hummels hasn’t played for Germany for more than two years
Hummels is the top personality. With the end of the era of national coach Joachim Löw, his international playing time seemed to be over after 76 games. Under Löw’s successor Flick, the Dortmund player wasn’t even in the squad. But there was never a resignation. Hummels last played for Germany in the 2-0 defeat in the European Championship round of 16 in England in June 2021.
Now the changeable career of the opinionated defender is taking another turn. Löw had already done without Hummels between spring 2019 and 2021 and then brought him back – ultimately without success – for his last tournament as national coach. Now he should give the recently unstable defense new support on the way to the home European Championship in 2024.
“I expect even in this short time that you can see that everyone wants to play for the DFB, that everyone wants to win games, even in the here and now,” said Nagelsmann: “Everyone should be extremely focused and make the trip to the USA with the necessary fun, the necessary desire and, above all, the necessary greed.”