Berlin (AFP) – Germany coach Joachim Loew on Friday called up 17 members of his Confederations Cup-winning squad and only seven world champions for next week’s World Cup qualifiers.
Germany face the Czech Republic in Prague on September 1 and host Norway three days later.
With six wins out of six the 2014 world champions can secure their passage to Russia next year by taking three points in Prague as long as group rivals Northern Ireland fail to win both of their outings against San Marino and the Czechs.
The make-up of Loew’s squad suggests he favours relying on the existing momentum built up by the Confed Cup triumph in Russia this summer rather than on experience and reputation.
“For me titles won in the past don’t count, the only thing that counts is the World Cup at the end of this season,” the Germany boss said.
“We want to win the title, and we will throw everything at this objective. The players know what I expect of them and they know the competition is very strong.”
The seven surviving members of Loew’s 2014 World Cup-winning squad are Thomas Mueller, Mats Hummels, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos, and Julian Draxler and Matthias Ginter, who figured in the Confed Cup.
Germany’s captain, Manuel Neuer, fractured his foot in April and is rested.
Germany lead Group C on 18 points, five clear of Northern Ireland.
Only the top team in each European qualifying group is guaranteed to qualify for the World Cup, with the eight best runners-up across the nine groups advancing to a play-off round.
Germany squad
Goalkeepers: Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona/ESP), Kevin Trapp (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA)
Defenders: Matthias Ginter (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Jonas Hector (Cologne), Benjamin Henrichs (Bayer Leverkusen), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea/ENG), Niklas Sule (Bayern Munich)
Midfielders/forwards: Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Emre Can (Liverpool/ENG), Julian Draxler (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA), Serge Gnabry (Hoffenheim), Mario Gomez (Wolfsburg), Leon Goretzka (Schalke 04), Sami Khedira (Juventus/ITA), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid/ESP), Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal/ENG), Sebastian Rudy (Bayern Munich), Lars Stindl (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Timo Werner (RB Leipzig), Amin Younes (Ajax/NED)
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