Despite renouncement: Löw opens door for Götze

National coach Joachim Löw has opened the door again for World Cup hero Mario Götze to the German national team. “I’m so happy for Mario. Over the past few months, you have noticed that he is very dynamic and very well trained. If he continues like this, he will come back,” said Löw on the sidelines of the DFB Cup final on ARD.

Lew’s testimony comes as a surprise. Although Götze had recently presented himself in a strong form at Borussia Dortmund, he did not appoint the offensive player for the season finale with the European Championship qualifying matches on 8 June in Belarus and three days later in Mainz against Estonia. Löw nominated only 22 players.

Why Götze is (still) missing was not explained by the national coach when his squad was published last Wednesday. The last of his 63 international matches (17 goals) to date was played by the 26-year-old in November 2017 against France (2:2) in Cologne.

Löw also opened a tiny back door for Thomas Müller from Munich. “Stand now I plan without him, but in football you never know,” he said.

Rio World Champion Müller was complimented out of the DFB eleven by Löw in March like his club colleagues Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng.

The rejuvenated German team then convinced with a 3:2 victory over archrivals Netherlands at the start of the European Championship qualifying round.