Leroy Sane’s Germany World Cup snub cannot be explained by footballing reasons, admits Michael Ballack
Boss Joachim Low left the Manchester City ace out of his 23-man group in a shock decision amid reports his ego was to blame
MICHAEL BALLACK has admitted Leroy Sane's shock World Cup omission does not make sense from a footballing perspective.
The Manchester City ace, 22, was left out of Joachim Low's 23-man squad, with The Sun revealing his ego played a part.
And while former Chelsea midfielder Ballack was staggered by the decision, he urged fans to back their boss.
Speaking ahead of Betfair's Road to Russia Preview, he told SunSport: “Like many people, I was really surprised because from a football point of view there was no explanation not to select him for a squad of 23 players.
“We have really good players but there is a space for him in that squad - even if he didn’t perform in the same way as he did for Man City.
"For me struggling is normal when you’re young and join a really good team, the world champions.
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"Jogi Low sticks to players he has experience with, who he can trust, who have already delivered but I think in this squad there are already a lot of new players which were not there four years ago.
"When you talk about quality and football, he has to be part of the team. But he made a different decision and we have to respect it.
"There is speculation it could be something behind the scenes which he was not really happy about. Also it could be a longer term decision as he was injured for the Confederations Cup.
"Low said he had nothing to complain about Sane's attitude and simply went for Julian Brandt instead but I don’t feel you have to do that because Sane is not a player for one position."
I still think Germany are strong enough to win without Sane but that’s not saying they would lose with him.
Michael Ballack
Ballack feels Germany have a strong chance to defend their title after entering the tournament as joint favourites.
But he would prefer to have PFA Young Player of the Year Sane in the ranks for the latter stages.
The Betfair ambassador - a runner-up in the 2002 tournament - added: "The squad is still strong enough.
"But in my opinion he is so good he can make a difference - especially in the quarter finals, semi-finals, final when it comes to equal opponents like Spain Brazil and France.
"Then, he is a key player who can make the difference - I still think Germany are strong enough to win without Sane, but that’s not saying they would lose with him.
"I was looking forward to seeing him in a World Cup because when we talk about stars he’s one of these players who actually is mentioned in the top 10 for young players and it’s not nice for the fans to not see him."
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Low's other selection headache was between the sticks with Manuel Neuer recently returning from a lengthy lay-off.
The Bayern Munich stopper has not played a competitive match since September but will get the nod ahead of Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
And Ballack explained: "Neuer is a different situation, it’s a risky situation but he’s so exceptionally good.
"I’m sure he’s always mentally on top of things, it’s just a risk from an injury point. It’s different for a goalkeeper and if he says he feels ready, and he trained well, I think it will be fine."