Dortmund (Germany) (AFP) – There are renewed calls in Germany for national head coach Joachim Loew to recall Mats Hummels just months after telling the Dortmund defender that his time in the national team was over.
The calls for his return focus principally on the serious knee injury suffered by first-choice centre-back Niklas Suele playing for Bayern Munich at the weekend but they also come on the back of some impressive performances by Hummels in the Bundesliga and in the Champions League.
The 30-year-old has rebooted his career since leaving Bayern in the summer to return to Borussia Dortmund, the club he represented 225 times between 2009 and 2016 when he left for Munich.
Another eye-catching performance marshalling the back four at Inter Milan in Wednesday’s Champions League match could prompt a rethink by Loew.
“If ‘Jogi’ Loew doesn’t do it now and reinstate Hummels, I will be enormously disappointed,” former Germany midfielder Steffen Freund told broadcaster Nitro on Tuesday.
Germany fans appear to agree. A survey published on Monday by Kicker magazine showed 77 percent of 96,000 people who responded want Hummels back in Germany’s famous white shirt.
“Loew has so far ruled out a return of Hummels, arguing that it was necessary to leave room for Suele, but injury to this promising player will force him to review his strategy,” said Kicker in an editorial.
Loew’s decision in March to send Hummels and his Bayern teammates Thomas Mueller and Jerome Boateng into international retirement sent shockwaves through German football.
Hummels, who made 70 appearances for Germany, said at the time that he did not bear a grudge against Loew but admitted that he had been stunned.
“I took a blow to the head and didn’t really know what was going on,” he said.
Hummels has since rediscovered his best form back with Dortmund and produced a commanding display last month when Barcelona were held to a goalless draw at Signal Iduna Park in their opening Group F match.
And after Suele, Loew’s defensive cornerstone, tore his cruciate knee against Augsburg on Saturday, ruling him out of action for at least six months, Hummels might just be the right man in the right place.
– ‘If it comes, it comes’ –
While Loew described the news as “very bad”, Bayern president Uli Hoeness was more direct.
“Apparently, the season is over for him (Suele),” he said on Monday. “He can forget about the Euros.”
from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/2JdOQVK
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