Loew saddened by Reus Euro 2016 omission

Germany head coach Joachim Loew conceded he was disappointed with his decision to omit Borussia Dortmund forward Marco Reus from his final squad for Euro 2016.

Loew announced his final 23 players for the European Championships on Tuesday and Reus was the notable absentee.

“The medical staff were very skeptical because the following weeks will be really intense. The matches will be tough. We didn’t know whether he could stand this. The decision for us and of course Marco was really hard to make. It is really disappointing because Marco was in quite a good form and he would have been really important for us.

“But due to these health problems we had to make this decision because we knew how hard the tournament will be,” the 56 year-old World Cup winner revealed.

Juventus midfielder Sami Khedira admitted it was a sad situation, especially after Reus missed the FIFA World Cup winning campaign in Brazil two years ago.

“It is not an easy situation because it is always sad that they have to leave. They are part of the team. They did such a great effort. That’s why it’s not nice but it’s part of the game. I had the chance to talk to Marco.

“He seems okay even though it is for him personally the worst case scenario. For us it’s not easy as well. In 2014 he had the same fate. Now it’s happened again. He has such great quality. He seems okay and I am convinced that he will get his chance to shine at the big stage,” the former Real Madrid player said.

Loew also remains confident that Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mats Hummels will both be ready for the tournament.

“I forgot to mention it. The forecast regarding Schweinsteiger and Hummels are pretty clear. The doctors said that they will be able to play the Euro. Bastian Schweinsteiger will start training with the squad today. Mats will have to wait for a few more days. We’ll wait for him. The medical staff said that both of them will be able to play.”

The Germans, eyeing their fourth continental title and their first since 1996, have been drawn in Group C along with Poland, Ukraine and Northern Ireland for the tournament in France starting on June 10.

Germany lost 3-1 against Slovakia in a friendly on Sunday. They play Hungary this week in their last warm-up game.

Full squad: Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona) Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Emre Can (Liverpool), Jonas Hector (Cologne), Benedikt Hoewedes (Schalke 04), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia), Antonio Ruediger (Roma) Midfielders: Julian Draxler (VfL Wolfsburg), Sami Khedira (Juventus), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Lukas Podolski (Galatasaray), Andre Schuerrle (VfL Wolfsburg), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United), Julian Weigl (Borussia Dortmund)

Forwards: Mario Gomez (Besiktas), Mario Goetze (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Schalke 04) (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann)