Nagelsmann Increases DFB Participants in European Championship Practice Sessions
The Champions League finale is causing frustration for national coach Julian Nagelsmann: Several key players like Toni Kroos, Niclas Füllkrug, and Antonio Rüdiger won't be available at the beginning of the European Championship preparations. He's remedying this issue by adding two promising young players to the German national soccer team's training group.
19-year-old Brajan Gruda from FSV Mainz 05 and 21-year-old Rocco Reitz from Borussia Mönchengladbach will join the German national soccer team's training squad for the first phase of preparations for the Euro 2024. National coach Julian Nagelsmann has invited the potential A-team players to the training camp in Blankenhain. The official German European Championship squad is set to gather in Thuringia on Sunday. The initial stage of preparations will take place there until the end of the month.
Nagelsmann commented in a DFB press release, explaining his decision to call up the talented midfielders Gruda and Reitz: "Some of our national team players are still playing in the DFB Cup final and the Champions League final, so they’ll join the team later. We want to make sure we can train effectively in the first period of preparation in case one of them gets injured. These two young players will have a chance to prove themselves at the senior level."
Several players still absent from the initial camp
Jonathan Tah, Florian Wirtz, and Robert Andrich from Bayer Leverkusen will be competing in the DFB Cup final against 1. FC Kaiserslautern on Saturday. Therefore, they'll join the training camp later. Niclas Füllkrug and Nico Schlotterbeck from Borussia Dortmund, as well as Toni Kroos and Antonio Rüdiger from Real Madrid, will not be at Blankenhain because they'll be playing in the Premier League final in London on June 1.
Schlotterbeck is the only one arriving late who isn't considered a possible member of the starting line-up. Kroos and Rüdiger are vital members of Nagelsmann's team, Tah is a lock in central defense, Witz has secured his place in midfield, Füllkrug is the first choice striker, and Andrich is Kroos' partner. The German squad will leave for their Euro 2024 quarters in Herzogenaurach the day before, but Gruda and Reitz won't be there. The German U21 team's season will end shortly.
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Source: www.ntv.de
