Arsenal star Mesut Ozil has made the 23-man Germany World Cup squad and will be one of two players of Turkish origin alongside Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan.
Liverpool midfielder Emre Can missed out on the provisional squad and the 23-man side.
City midfielder Leroy Sane was a surprise absentee from the final cut.
Sane, who won the PFA young player of year award after helping the Citizens to secure the Premier League title, missed out to Julian Brandt of Bayer Leverkusen
The final 23-man squad for the #WorldCup ??#DieMannschaft #ZSMMN pic.twitter.com/SOJa14wIOD
— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) June 4, 2018
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There were fears that Ozil and Gundogan would not make the squad after coming under fire for meeting with president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier in the week.
Gundogan referred to Erdogan as being, ‘my president’, which technically is true considering he is also Turkish and eligible for citizenship.
The players are both German internationals born in Gelsenkirchen to Turkish families.
Both handed Erdogan signed shirts from their respective clubs and posed for photos with the 64-year-old.
Speaking at a news conference after Germany convened at their Eppan training camp, Joachim Low revealed he had discussed the matter with his players and felt assured that the act was not political.
“We’ve had a private discussion and both players have assured us that no political message was intended,” he said.
“For me, it’s no longer an issue within the team and the sporting aspects will now take over.”
