Matthias Ginter, Jonas Hofmann and Florian Neuhaus are again named in the Germany squad to kick off 2021’s international fixtures. Seven other Borussia players have also been named in their respective countries’ squads.
Speaking about the upcoming international fixtures, Gladbach sporting director Max Eberl said in today’s (Friday) virtual press conference: “We have been in regular contact with the public health department over the past few days. We will isolate from the international players.” In relation to the coronavirus situation and possible trips to areas with virus variants, Eberl added: “The Austrians, Stefan Lainer and Valentino Lazaro will not travel to the World Cup qualification match in Scotland and Ramy Bensebaini will not fly with Algeria to Zambia. Our players are not allowed to travel to these areas. In the case that the travel restrictions change slightly in the next few days then we will call the players back early.”
Germany
Matthias Ginter, Jonas Hofmann and Florian Neuhaus have again been named in the Germany squad. National coach Joachim Löw has called up the three Foals for the upcoming Qatar World Cup 2022 qualification games. Germany will face Iceland, Romania, North Macedonia, Armenia and Liechtenstein in Europe group J.
Switzerland
Four Gladbach players have been named in the Switzerland squad, namely Yann Sommer, Nico Elvedi, Breel Embolo and Denis Zakaria. Zakaria is named for the first time since the last game of the European Championship qualifiers in November 2019 and his long injury lay-off. The Swiss team begin the World Cup qualification campaign with matches against Bulgaria and Lithuania. They will also face Italy and Northern Ireland in group C.
Austria
Stefan Lainer and Valentino Lazaro are in the preliminary 43-man Austria squad. Head coach Franco Foda’s team will face Scotland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark in their World Cup 2022 qualification campaign. However, due to the travel restrictions in place in Germany for arrivals from the UK, Lainer and Lazaro will not be available for the opening match in Glasgow. The two Borussia players will only be available for the matches against the Faroe Islands and Denmark, which will both be played in Vienna. Hannes Wolf will be on call for these matches.
Algeria
Remy Bensebaini has been named in the squad for Algeria, who will be competing again in the qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations 2022. However, due to coronavirus restrictions, Borussia’s left-back will not travel to Zambia, where Algeria will play on the coming Thursday. Therefore, Bensebaini will only be available for Algeria’s final qualifier against Botswana.
