National soccer coach Julian Nagelsmann wants to book a direct World Cup ticket with young star Saïd El Mala and returnee Leroy Sané. In addition to the 19-year-old Cologne newcomer El Mala and Turkey legionnaire Sané, returnee Malick Thiaw is also in the 25-man squad for the final duels in the World Cup qualification in Luxembourg (November 14th) and against Slovakia (November 17th) in Leipzig.
U-21 national player El Mala should “show us all his carefree and carefree attitude,” said the national coach on Thursday about the teenager, who had his breakthrough this season with four goals in nine Bundesliga games.
Sané, who is there for the first time since moving to Galatasaray in the summer, earned his nomination “with good performances in the Champions League and the Süper Lig,” added Nagelsmann. The winger scored three goals and prepared three in 14 competitive games. Thiaw, who plays with Nick Woltemade in Newcastle, became “one of the pillars straight away”. The squad is led by captain Joshua Kimmich and playmaker Florian Wirtz. Robert Andrich, Robin Koch, Angelo Stiller and Maximilian Beier were no longer considered. Players like Robin Gosens or Deniz Undav are not included.
Nagelsmann had to improvise again. In addition to goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, magic foot Jamal Musiala, defense chief Antonio Rüdiger and striker Kai Havertz are not fit for action, as are the alternatives Benjamin Henrichs, Niclas Füllkrug or Tim Kleindienst.
The DFB selection will meet in Wolfsburg on Monday and will hold a public training session there in the afternoon (3:30 p.m.). They lead qualifying group A with nine points and would qualify for the finals with two more wins, perhaps four points would be enough. Otherwise there would be a detour via the playoffs.
The line-up at a glance:
Tor: Noah Atubolu (SC Freiburg), Oliver Baumann (TSG Hoffenheim), Finn Dahmen (FC Augsburg), Alexander Nübel (VfB Stuttgart)
Defensive: Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), Ridle Baku (RB Leipzig), Nathaniel Brown (Eintracht Frankfurt), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Aleksandar Pavlović (Bayern Munich), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayern Munich), Malick Thiaw (Newcastle United)
Offensive: Karim Adeyemi (Borussia Dortmund), Nadiem Amiri (FSV Mainz 05), Jonathan Burkardt (Eintracht Frankfurt), Saïd El Mala (1. FC Köln), Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Jamie Leweling (VfB Stuttgart), Leroy Sané (Galatasaray Istanbul), Kevin Schade (FC Brentford), Florian Wirtz (FC Liverpool), Nick Woltemade (Newcastle United)