Hummels reveals details

EM exit? “The phone call lasted less than two minutes”

Mats Hummels stays at home for the European Championship.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Germany's national soccer team will fight for the European Championship title without Mats Hummels, as the BVB defender was denied a nomination. The 78-time international has now revealed details of the phone call between him and national team coach Julian Nagelsmann to "Sportbild".

According to Hummels, the conversation was "short and disappointing". "Not even two minutes. I just had to leave for training. But I don't need a long conversation or a big explanation at times like this. That was enough for me."

The non-nomination of the central defender was met with astonishment and incomprehension in the host country of the EURO, as the 35-year-old has recently presented himself at a top level both playfully and mentally. So why doesn't Nagelsmann have a need? "If I understood him correctly, he was also concerned with other things than accepting a wild card role. As I understood it, it was more about age-related things like fitness," Hummels explained. 

Julian Nagelsmann has no room for Hummels.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Odd ANDERSEN)

"One of the five best"
To a certain extent, he could understand the team boss's decision, as the group had been growing together since March. "It's bitter for me as an individual because I'm currently one of the five best defenders in Germany, I have that confidence. If I'd had the phase I had before the nomination in March, I might have been there - and now part of the European Championship squad," the Dortmund defender is convinced.

At least everything is going according to plan at club level, with Hummels playing for the Champions League title against Real Madrid on Saturday. The handle pot would certainly be a good consolation - and proof that the 2014 world champion still has what it takes ...