Liverpool’s defensive midfielder Emre Can has been called up for Germany’s upcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers against Poland and Scotland next month, with the coach Joachim Löw praising his development at Anfield.
The 21-year-old, who has played for Germany at every youth level, joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen last year.
“Emre had a good development at Liverpool and is a versatile player. We like his presence on the pitch and his dynamism,” Löw said. “Now we want to get to know him a bit better.”
Germany take on Poland in Frankfurt on 4 September before travelling to Glasgow to face Scotland three days later. The World Cup winners are second in Group D on 13 points from six matches, one point behind Poland, who beat them 2-0 in October last year. Scotland are third on 11.
Löw has also recalled the defender Matthias Ginter and Barcelona’s goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen. Ginter, a World Cup winner last year, had not played for Germany since October 2014, struggling since his move to Borussia Dortmund.
“Matthias had a difficult year at Dortmund but he accepted the challenge and he is benefiting from that attitude,” added Löw. “His form is now improving and his recent performances have been outstanding.”
The top two teams from each group qualify automatically for the tournament in France next year along with some third-placed teams.
“It is in our own hands to take over the top of the group table and meet the high expectations,” Löw said. “Our aim can only be to win both matches and I expect we will do that. We dropped some points at the start of this qualification. We know what’s at stake and now we want to move up a gear.”