Reus out of Germany squad due to health issue.

Marco Reus has been left out of Germany’s squad for Euro 2016 because of injury concerns, according to the head coach Joachim Löw.

It is a huge blow for Reus, who enjoyed a fine season for Borussia Dortmund, scoring 20 goals as they finished second in the Bundesliga and reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League. The forward, who also missed the 2014 World Cup through injury, has been struggling at the team’s training camp in Ascona, Switzerland, and Löw has ultimately decided the 27-year-old would struggle to get through a one-month tournament. Dortmund later said Reus has a groin injury.


“He has huge health problems and can only run straight at the moment,” Löw said. “The medical staff could not give a clear prognosis for Marco. He has massive injury problems and the medical staff was very sceptical about his ability to last through the coming weeks and such a gruelling tournament. It is a bitter decision and bitter for Marco. It’s a bitter decision for us and for him, a disappointment for us all, because a Marco Reus in form, healthy and fit, would have been a huge addition.”

Bastian Schweinsteiger was picked despite not playing since a partial ligament tear in national team training on 22 March, his second knee injury of the year, while Mats Hummels, who has a calf injury, also made the cut. “The prognosis on Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mats Hummels is clear from our medical department that they will be available for the tournament,” Löw said. “Schweinsteiger, fully fit, will start training with the team this afternoon. Hummels will need a little longer. According to the doctors, they’ll both be available.”

Reus’s Germany team-mate Sami Khedira, who did make it into the squad, said: “You have to be fully fit if you play in a European Championship. It is very bitter but I am confident Marco will get his chance on the big stage. He was very calm and composed in accepting the decision.”

The head coach has also cut the 20-year-old midfielder Julian Brandt from the 23-man party, as well as Brandt’s Bayer Leverkusen team-mate Karim Bellarabi and Hoffenheim midfielder Sebastian Rudy. “The young players Joshua Kimmich, Julian Weigl and Leroy Sane will be there. It’s not a decision against three players, or four players, but for the 23 players that are there now,” Löw added.

Kimmich and Weigl made debuts in the 3-1 loss to Slovakia in Augsburg on Sunday, along with Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno. Sane, a winger at Schalke, made his second appearance. Germany play Hungary on Saturday in their final warm-up game before travelling to France.

Germany squad
Goalkeepers Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Leno (Bayer Leverkusen), Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona). Defenders Jérôme Boateng (Bayern), Emre Can (Liverpool), Jonas Hector (Cologne), Benedikt Höwedes (Schalke), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia), Antonio Rüdiger (Roma). Midfielders Julian Draxler (Wolfsburg), Sami Khedira (Juventus), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Thomas Müller (Bayern), Mesut Özil (Arsenal), Lukas Podolski (Galatasaray), Andre Schürrle (Wolfsburg), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United), Julian Weigl (Borussia Dortmund). Forwards Mario Gomez (Besiktas), Mario Götze (Bayern), Leroy Sane (Schalke).