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Marco Reus. Michael Sohn
Deja Vu

The worst kind of birthday surprise: Reus left out of Germany's Euros squad

It’s the second successive major tournament the talented Borussia Dortmund attacker will miss through injury.

IT’S BEEN A birthday to forget for poor, old Marco Reus.

The mercurial Borussia Dortmund attacker, who turned 27 today, has been left out of Germany’s squad for next month’s European finals in France due to a groin injury that manager Joachim Löw felt wasn’t worth risking.

It comes as a bitter blow for the injury-plagued Reus, who missed the 2014 World Cup success with an ankle injury.

“Reus can only run straight run now,” Löw said last weekend. “He could do no more in training. The medical staff was sceptical that he would be fully fit.

“It’s a bitter decision for him and us. He would be a major gain for our team if he was fit.”

One man whose lingering fitness doubts haven’t affected his selection is Manchester United’s Bastian Schweinsteiger, who failed to impress in his first season at Old Trafford.

The 31-year-old suffered a knee injury at the end of March but the German skipper has been included in Löw’s 23-man squad despite only returning to training today.

Mats Hummels has also made the cut despite tearing a calf muscle earlier this month, although he remains doubtful for Germany’s opening Group C game against Ukraine on 12 June.

As well as Reus, Karim Bellarabi, Julian Brandt (both Baye Leverkusen) and Hoffenheim’s Sebastian Rudy were cut from the provisional 27-man squad that Löw named two weeks ago.

Germany squad:

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona).

Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Emre Can (Liverpool), Jonas Hector (Cologne), Benedikt Howedes (Schalke), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia), Antonio Rudiger (Roma).

Midfielders: Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Sami Khedira (Juventus), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Julian Draxler (Wolfsburg), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United), Julian Weigl (Borussia Dortmund).

Forwards: Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich), Andre Schurrle (Wolfsburg), Lukas Podolski (Galatasaray), Mario Gomez (Besiktas), Leroy Sane (Schalke).

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