Dortmund. This is a surprise: the first names for the German European Championship squad are announced. Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck is there.
Julian Nagelsmann was relaxed. The national coach was spared a hectic tour of the stadiums at the weekend. Most of his preliminary EM-Kaders is there anyway – and Nagelsmann pondered over the borderline cases in a quiet little room. The 36-year-old will give the public the answers to many exciting questions on Thursday in Berlin.
However, some names were already published in advance: On Sunday evening, the DFB announced via prime time daily News known that Borussia Dortmunds Nico Schlotterbeck im EM squad will stand. It is the first appointment for the 24-year-old defender since Nagelsmann took office. In the past eight months, the national coach had ignored Dortmund because he often made wrong decisions. With recent strong performances, especially in the semi-finals of the Champions League against Paris St. Germain, Schlotterbeck, part of the 2022 World Cup squad, has apparently persuaded the national coach to rethink. In the coming days, additional EM participants will be announced little by little. Will the rejected Bayern star Leon Goretzka still make it into the squad? And will he conjure up another surprise for the home tournament? A little event character before the home European Championship event.
A maximum of 26 players are allowed
After the victories against runner-up world champions France (2:0) and the Netherlands (2:1), Nagelsmann sees the DFB selection on the right track for the hoped-for summer fairy tale 2.0. So far he has made nominations strictly based on performance and called up some high-flyers from VfB Stuttgart. He also assigned each professional a clear role in the squad. It’s hard to imagine him throwing everything over again. Nagelsmann is allowed to appoint a maximum of 26 players for the tournament (June 14th to July 14th). He has to report his final squad to UEFA a few hours after the European Championship dress rehearsal against Greece in Mönchengladbach on June 7th. Recently, Nagelsmann has tended not to use all the available positions. But at least 26 players could still travel to the training camp in Weimarer Land (May 26th to 31st).