Max Kruse called up for Germany's Olympic squad
Max Kruse, Nadiem Amiri and Maximilian Arnold are the three overage players in Stefan Kuntz's Germany squad for the upcoming men's football tournament at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
All but three of Kuntz's 19-man squad had to be born before 31 December 1996, and the coach has bolstered his selection with the presence of Kruse, Amiri and Arnold.
Kruse scored 11 goals and assisted five more for Union Berlin last season as the club secured European football for the 2021/22 campaign. The veteran forward - whose goal involvement came in at one every 102 minutes - won the last of his 14 Germany caps in October 2015.
Amiri and Arnold are also both previously capped at full international level. The Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg midfielders were part of Kuntz's squad who won the UEFA European U21 Championship in Poland in 2017.
Six of the ensemble - including Cologne's Ismail Jakobs and Hertha Berlin's Arne Maier - won the most recent edition of that tournament in Slovenia last month.
Augsburg newcomer Niklas Dorsch and Hamburg's Josha Vagnoman were part of the initial set-up, but have since withdrawn due to club commitments ad injury respectively. Eintracht Frankfurt forward Ragnar Ache and Freiburg defender Keven Schlotterbeck have been called up in the duo's stead.
"We have found a good mix of the three older players, the newly crowned U21 European champions and the age group who qualified for the Olympics at the U21 European Championship in 2019," he said on the DFB's official website.
"With this team we want to get as far as possible and play for the Olympic medals."
Germany will play Honduras in a friendly on 17 July before taking on Brazil, Saudi Arabia and the Ivory Coast in Group D.
Germany were runners-up to Brazil in Rio in 2016, while East Germany won Gold at the 1876 Games in Montreal.
The squad in full
Goalkeepers: Svend Brodersen (Yokahama), Florian Müller (VfB Stuttgart), Luca Plogmann (Werder Bremen)
Defenders: Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig), Amos Pieper (Arminia Bielefeld), David Raum (Hoffenheim), Keven Schlotterbeck (Freiburg), Jordan Torunarigha (Hertha Berlin), Felix Uduokhai (Ausgburg)
Midfielders: Nadiem Amiri (Bayer Leverkusen), Maximilian Arnold (Wolfsburg), Ismail Jakobs (Cologne), Eduard Löwen (Bochum), Arne Maier (Hertha Berlin), Anton Stach (Greuther Fürth)
Forwards: Ragnar Ache (Eintracht Frankfurt), Max Kruse (Union Berlin), Marco Richter (Augsburg), Cedric Teuchert (Union Berlin)
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