The China Mail - 'Mixing things up': Nagelsmann goes for flexibility in new Germany squad

Bayern Munich starlet Lennart Karl received a first Germany call-up. His club teammate Jamal Musiala missed out as he continues his injury rehabilitation.

Karl, 18, has impressed since he made his senior debut this season. He became Bayern's youngest ever Champions League goalscorer when he scored against Club Brugge in October.

Bayern goalkeeper Jonas Urbig, 22, was also called up for the first time. Brought to Bayern to deputise behind veteran Manuel Neuer in January 2025, Urbig has played 13 times in all competitions this season.

Germany have crashed out at the group stage at the past two World Cups. Nagelsmann acknowledged his side was not already the best in the world but had the flexibility to breach the gap in quality to the top sides.

"If you have the best squad in the world, you can just play your game. We have a very, very good squad. But we didn't have the best squad in the world at the Euros in 2024 or last year.

"We need to achieve a level of variability where we can help a very, very good squad deliver a very, very good performance.

"And that's why we're mixing it up."

Deployed as either a winger or a number 10, Karl can play across the forward line. Nagelsmann also singled out Premier League trio Nick Woltemade, Pascal Gross and Anton Stach for their variability.

Musiala returned in January having missed six months with a broken ankle but has been out since reinjuring the leg in March.

Kai Havertz, Stach, Gross and Antonio Rudiger return to the squad, as do Stuttgart's Deniz Undav and Josha Vagnoman.

Borussia Dortmund winger Karim Adeyemi has been dropped while West Ham striker Niclas Fuellkrug, on loan at AC Milan, also did not make the cut. Stuttgart's Angelo Stiller and Maximilian Mittelstaedt have both missed out.

Teenage Cologne talent Said El Mala, 19, is on standby and will instead play with the under-21 team.

The coach said he expects the squad for the March friendlies to mirror that sent to the United States, Canada and Mexico this summer.

"The March squad has many parallels to what we will look at by the end of May. It's not a World Cup selection, but a vote in their favour or a nomination," Nagelsmann said at the squad announcement in Frankfurt on Thursday.

"With the new players we're testing, they now have the chance to show themselves," Nagelsmann said, but added "the door is not closed" for other players to force their way into World Cup reckoning.

Germany thumped Slovakia 6-0 in the final group stage match to top the group and qualify for the tournament directly.

The four-time World Cup winners take on Switzerland in Basel on March 27 before hosting Ghana in Stuttgart three days later.

The March friendlies will provide Nagelsmann with a chance for a last tune-up before the end of the club football season.

The Germans will have one final match on home soil, against Finland in May, before facing World Cup co-hosts the United States in Chicago on June 6.

Germany will be based in North Carolina during the tournament.

Germany squad:

Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Alexander Nuebel (Stuttgart), Jonas Urbig (Bayern Munich)

Defenders: Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), Nathaniel Brown (Eintracht Frankfurt), Pascal Gross (Brighton and Hove Albion/ENG), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Bayern Munich), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Anton Stach (Leeds United/ENG), Jonathan Tah (Bayern Munich), Malick Thiaw (Newcastle/ENG), Josha Vagnoman (Stuttgart)

Midfielders/forwards: Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Kai Havertz (Arsenal/ENG), Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich), Jamie Leweling (Stuttgart), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Leroy Sane (Galatasaray/TUR), Kevin Schade (Brentford/ENG), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart), Florian Wirtz (Liverpool/ENG), Nick Woltemade (Newcastle/ENG)

M.Zhou--ThChM