Bastian Schweinsteiger snubs Kai Havertz and Leroy Sane as he picks Germany XI for Euro 2024 opening match v Scotland
Bastian Schweinsteiger has picked his starting eleven for Germany's starting match against Scotland in Euro 2024. Interestingly, the 2014 World Cup winner has chosen to exclude the likes of Leroy Sane and Kai Havertz from his starting 11.
Germany is part of a seemingly simple yet unpredictable group in Euro 2024, which includes Scotland, Hungary, and Switzerland. They will start their Euro 2024 campaign tonight (June 14) with a match against Scotland. Although the tie seems easy on paper, the Germans would be desperate not to slip on a banana skin so early in the tournament.
Bastian Schweinsteiger has gone with the veteran Manuel Neuer and the center-back pairing of Antonio Rüdiger and Jonathan Tah in the German defense. Maximilian Mittelstädt and Joshua Kimmich will take the left-back and right-back positions, respectively.
In the midfield, Real Madrid legend Toni Kroos and Bayer Leverkusen's Robert Andrich will orchestrate the proceedings. Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, and Ilkay Gundogan will handle the attacking midfield, with Niklas Fullkrug as the lone striker upfront.
However, Schweinsteiger's exclusion of Leroy Sane and Kai Havertz has left the fans bewildered. Sane had a decent season with Bayern Munich with eight goals and 11 assists in 27 league games for the German outfit.
Meanwhile, Kai Havertz was an integral part of Arsenal's second-place finish in the English Premier League this season. The German forward scored 13 goals and created seven more in 37 EPL games.
Bastian Schweinsteiger picks France ahead of Germany as favorites to win Euro 2024
Germany needs to do well in Euro 2024 to bring back its past glory. The 2014 FIFA World Cup champions haven't had the best decade when it comes to international tournaments.
The Germans have been knocked out of the group stages in two back-to-back World Cups and were defeated 2-0 in the Round of 16 of Euro 2020. Therefore, the Germans will be looking forward to winning big at home in Euro 2024.
However, German legend Bastian Schweinsteiger thinks that Germany aren't the favorites to win the tournament. When asked on X (formerly Twitter), the German picked Kylian Mbappe's 'France' ahead of Germany as the most likely outfit to win the tournament (according to Daily Post Nigeria).
Bastian Schweinsteiger is one of the legends of German football and is the fifth most-capped player in the country's history with 121 games played. In his international career, he scored 24 goals and won the FIFA World Cup in 2014. The 39-year-old was also declared as the German Footballer of the Year in 2013.