Leroy Sané omitted from Germany’s World Cup squad

Manchester City winger Leroy Sane is the shock omission from Germany’s 23-man squad for the World Cup, announced by coach Joachim Low at a news conference today.

Sane, the Premier League Young Player of the Year, was expected to made the final squad but was left out, with Hertha Berlin defender Marvin Plattenhardt surviving the cut.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is included after making his long-awaited comeback from injury in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Austria, his first game since September having been ruled out for eight months with Bayern Munich due to metatarsal injuries.

The Germany captain is now set to lead out the holders in their first match against Mexico in Moscow on June 17. Before the game against Austria, he last featured for the national team in a 2-0 defeat of Northern Ireland on Oct. 11, 2016.

“There are better days in the life of a Bundestrainer,” Low told the news conference. “The disappointment [for the players left out] was big, you could expect that.

“It was like not being allowed onto the plane at the check-in for Moscow. It wasn’t an easy decision for us at all. We looked at everything again. Looked at the data, looked at the big picture. We wanted to be prepared for all eventualities during the tournament.

“It was a photo finish in the end. I first of all want to thank those players for their great contribution over the past two weeks. They fought for their place.”

Bayer Leverkusen keeper Bernd Leno has already left the training camp while Barcelona keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Paris-Saint Germain’s Kevin Trapp will travel to Russia as backups for Neuer.

On Neuer, Low added: “It was good we played the Austria match despite the rain. Neuer was able to show he’s already at a very good level.”

Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah and Freiburg attacker Nils Petersen, who won his first cap against Austria, have also been dropped.

Germany are without a win in five matches, their longest run since 1987-88.