In an exclusive report, Sport1 has provided additional details about the way in which Germany head coach Joachim “Jogi” Löw informed Thomas Müller, Jerome Boateng, and Mats Hummels that their international careers were over.
Löw spoke to the three players individually at Säbener Strasse on Tuesday morning. Neither the players themselves nor the club knew the purpose of Löw’s meetings. According to Sport1, Löw spoke first with Müller and Boateng, and then summoned Hummels. His conversation with Hummels was especially brief: it amounted to “five to ten minutes” over coffee. They “respectfully shook hands” at the end.
At least one of the players reportedly found the manner in which Löw informed them of his decision “very cold.” After the news spread, the players received messages and calls from teammates. The club management also personally spoke with the players in solidarity.
Of the three, only Boateng addressed the news publicly on social media soon after he was informed:
National coach Joachim Löw informed me today in a frank conversation that I will no longer be part of the German national team; he wishes to turn the stage over to young players in the future and especially would like to give the team a new face with respect to the tournaments ahead.
I am sad about this news, because it was always the greatest thing for me to represent my country. Nonetheless, I respect the new course and have understanding for the national coach’s decision.
I myself was young and depended on the fact that older players made way for me. I’m personally convinced that I can continue to play at the highest level and will also show that in the future.
I will always look back at my time on the German national team with great joy. I was always extremely proud to be able to wear the jersey of the national team and will especially never forget the summer of 2014. Of course, I still would have wanted a different farewell for us.
Lots of success for the team in the future!
Only Boateng’s former teammate Mesut Özil, acknowledged the shocking decision, echoing Boateng’s final lines:
I feel sorry one of the best German players of the last decades has to leave the National team in that way. #Danke @JB17Official
— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) March 5, 2019
Boateng, of course, was nearly the only member of the national team to wish Özil well after his own extremely controversial departure from the German national team and subsequently spoke about his disappointment.
For its part, the DFB published the news on its official website. There Löw is quoted as saying,
2019 is the year of a new beginning for the German national soccer team. It was an important point for me to explain my thoughts and plans to the players and officials of FC Bayern personally. (...) In the year of qualifying for the Euro 2020, we are thus sending a clear signal of renewal: the young national players are receiving the necessary room to blossom completely. They now have to take responsibility. [It is time] to lay the groundwork for the future. We want to give the team a new face. I’m convinced that that is now the right step.
Oliver Bierhoff and DFB president Reinhard Grindel likewise spoke in support of Löw’s decision.