This is what Joachim Löw had to say about the game against France: "The French national side are one of the best in the world in my opinion. At the World Cup they showed the kind of quality they have in the squad. I’m looking forward to a little teaser in France of what is to come in the summer. We’re playing in the Stade de France, where the winner of the Euros will be determined on the 10th July 2016. For us, it’s also a great opportunity to get a taste of the atmosphere in the ground."
Löw on the game against the Netherlands: "A classic. I’m really looking forward to it"
Four days after the game in Saint-Denis, Die Mannschaft will conclude the year 2015 with a game in Niedersachsen. The DFB-Team will welcome rivals the Netherlands to Hannover. Joachim Löw spoke about opposition for this 2015 grand finale: "The Netherlands have recently had very few good results and their performances have been lacking. It’s quite upsetting for me to see such a traditional footballing nation fail to qualify for the European Championship. The game between Germany and the Netherlands is an absolute classic; a game that everyone is looking forward to. The game will be an excellent chance for us to test ourselves ahead of the Championship. It also goes without saying that we want to give our fans something to cheer about as we bow out of 2015."
The match will mark the 41st meeting between the two sides. The DFB-Team’s record stands at 15 wins, 15 draws and ten defeats. The last time the teams met was on the 14th November 2012 in Amsterdam where a goalless draw was the result.
The German team will return to the pitch in March 2016 with two classic encounters, first against England (26.03), and then against Italy (29.03).
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Mario Gomez returns to Die Mannschaft squad, whilst Kevin Trapp and Leroy Sané are called up for the first time. Mesut Özil and Toni Kroos are rested. Head coach Joachim Löw is delivering on his promise to test out new players, as he beings preparation for the EUROs with two tough friendlies against France in Paris on 13th November (21:00 CET) and the Netherlands in Hannover (20:45 CET).
Löw has called up a 25 players to the squad, including four goalkeepers. Players from six different leagues are represented in the squad – a new record in DFB history. 17 of those come from the Bundesliga, whilst captain Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United) and Emre Can (Liverpool) make up the Premier League contingent. Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia) is the only La Liga player, Sami Khedira (Juventus) and Antonio Rüdiger (AS Roma) feature from Serie A and Kevin Trapp (Paris Saint-Germain) from the French Ligue 1. Finally, Lukas Podolski (Galatasaray) and Mario Gomez (Besiktas) take a break from the Turkish Süper Lig to join up with the Germany squad.
Löw: "Gomez can be useful for any team"
Following the announcement, Löw had this to say about the current squad: “Now we begin preparation for the EURO finals in France. Because of that we will take advantage of every opportunity to experiment. At the same time I always have to think about the burden on my players, looking ahead to the tournament. The season has a long way to go and in some leagues there are no winter breaks. Because of that, I decided not to call up Mesut Özil and Toni Kroos, especially as we want to have a look at other players in that position.”
On Gomez’s return, Löw said: “When Mario is fit, playing regularly and has his confidence and rhythm, he can be useful for any team, including us. He ticks all this boxes at the moment. He’s scoring goals again in Turkey, as well as in the Europa League, he has stability again. I am very happy that he has overcome his injury miseries. He has earned his chance to prove his qualities and show us that he has still an option in our attack.”
Sané back to U21s after France game
Leroy Sané’s nomination to the team is a consequence of his consistent performances for Schalke, said Löw: “We already know Leroy from the youth set-up. He’s one of the season’s revelations so far. He’s quick, technically strong, looks to take players on. We see enormous potential in him.”
Sané has a special caveat: Joachim Löw, DFB sporting director Hansi Flick and U21s manager Horst Hrubesch all agreed that Sané would return to the U21 team after the match in France, to take part in the crucial European Championship qualifier against Austria in Fürth on 17th November.
There are four keepers in the squad: Manuel Neuer (Bayern München), Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hannover 96) and Kevin Trapp (Paris Saint-Germain). "We’re glad to have a few days to work closely together both on and off the pitch. We’ve had Kevin Trapp on our books for a while now and wanted to bring him into the international set-up. He’s made a lot of progress since his transfer to PSG. Ron-Robert Zieler is also someone we have watched a lot, as well as Bernd Leno and Marc-André ter Stegen, who isn’t in the squad or this game because of a tooth operation.
A taste of EURO 2016 at the Stade de France
The match against France will be the 27th meeting with “Les Bleus”. Germany won on nine occasions, whilst the French tasted victory eleven times and the remaining six games ended in a draw. The teams most recently met in the quarterfinal of the 2014 World Cup in Rio, when the eventual champions won 1-0 thanks to a Mats Hummels goal.
This is what Joachim Löw had to say about the game against France: "The French national side are one of the best in the world in my opinion. At the World Cup they showed the kind of quality they have in the squad. I’m looking forward to a little teaser in France of what is to come in the summer. We’re playing in the Stade de France, where the winner of the Euros will be determined on the 10th July 2016. For us, it’s also a great opportunity to get a taste of the atmosphere in the ground."
Löw on the game against the Netherlands: "A classic. I’m really looking forward to it"
Four days after the game in Saint-Denis, Die Mannschaft will conclude the year 2015 with a game in Niedersachsen. The DFB-Team will welcome rivals the Netherlands to Hannover. Joachim Löw spoke about opposition for this 2015 grand finale: "The Netherlands have recently had very few good results and their performances have been lacking. It’s quite upsetting for me to see such a traditional footballing nation fail to qualify for the European Championship. The game between Germany and the Netherlands is an absolute classic; a game that everyone is looking forward to. The game will be an excellent chance for us to test ourselves ahead of the Championship. It also goes without saying that we want to give our fans something to cheer about as we bow out of 2015."
The match will mark the 41st meeting between the two sides. The DFB-Team’s record stands at 15 wins, 15 draws and ten defeats. The last time the teams met was on the 14th November 2012 in Amsterdam where a goalless draw was the result.
The German team will return to the pitch in March 2016 with two classic encounters, first against England (26.03), and then against Italy (29.03).