Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 9y

Karim Bellarabi gets first Germany call-up for Euro 2016 qualifiers

Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Karim Bellarabi has received his first international call-up from Germany coach Joachim Low, while Borussia Monchengladbach attacker Max Kruse also returns for their upcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers.

Low has called up 20 players for the next round of qualifiers as the World Cup winners travel to Poland on Oct. 11, and then entertain Republic of Ireland at the Schalke Arena on Oct.14.

A total of 16 world champions are on board, though there are notable absences for Low to deal with: Bastian Schweinsteiger, Benedikt Howedes, Sami Khedria, Marco Reus and Mario Gomez are all out injured; Philipp Lahm, Per Mertesacker and Miroslav Klose are all unavailable after retiring internationally, while Kevin Grosskreutz missed out on a call-up.

In-form Bellarabi -- the scorer of the fastest ever Bundesliga goal earlier this season -- has received his first call-up to Die Nationalmannschaft.

Ghana and Morocco also hoped to convince the 24-year-old of representing them, but he would become ineligible for them should he feature in either of Germany's two games.

"Karim Bellarabi has deserved this chance through outstanding club performances. He is unbelievably strong in the one-on-one situations, and is fantastic alternative for our attack," Low was quoted as saying by the official DFB website.

"We must know that the European Championship qualifiers are not a no-brainer, also for a World Cup winner. I am absolutely convinced of the quality of my players and my team.

"I trust every single one of them. That's why it's even more important to be forceful and fully concentrated from the start. In those matches against Poland and Ireland we can pull clear of our competitors; they are enormously important for our future path in the qualifiers."

Low singled out Poland international Robert Lewandowski as the man to watch: "He is an exceptional footballer, and to me is one of the best three strikers in the world," Low said of the Bayern Munich striker. "His ball control in nearly every situation is phenomenal, he keeps the ball also under pressure. He is ice-cold in front of the goal, he really is a complete player."

Squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hannover)

Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Erik Durm (Borussia Dortmund), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Dortmund), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia), Antonio Rudiger (Stuttgart), Sebastian Rudy (Hoffenheim)

Midfielders :Karim Bellarabi (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Schalke), Christoph Kramer (Borussia Monchengladbach), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal), Andre Schurrle (Chelsea)

Strikers: Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich), Max Kruse (Borussia Monchengladbach)

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