Bayern and Dortmund stars left out by Löw

With the German Bundesliga rivals meeting in London's Wembley Stadium on May 25 and Bayern taking on VfB Stuttgart in the German Cup final on June 1, Germany coach Low opted for a mix of youth and experience as well as a handful of newcomers.

The Germans will face Ecuador on May 29 in Boca Raton and the United States in Washington on June 2 in their two friendlies.

The 23-man squad includes four newcomers with Freiburg's Max Kruse, Philipp Wollscheid and Sidney Sam from Bayer Leverkusen and Mainz 05's Nicolai Muller.

"All four have been very convincing throughout the season with their clubs," Low told reporters. "Now they have a chance to present themselves and I look forward to seeing how they deal with it."

Apart from half a dozen Bayern players and Dortmund's Mats Hummels, Ilkay Gundogan and Marcel Schmelzer, the squad also does not include Real Madrid's Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira.

Two Dortmund players, Sven Bender and Kevin Grosskreutz are set to join the team after the final next week, while top striker Miroslav Klose, back in action for Lazio after a lengthy injury break, will also join them after Italy's cup final on May 26.

The numerous absences forced Low to recall several players who have not played for Germany for some time, including Andreas Beck and Aaron Hunt who both last played for Germany in 2010.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Rene Adler (Hamburg SV), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hannover 96), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Borussia Monchengladbach).

Defenders: Dennis Aogo (Hamburg SV), Andreas Beck (Hoffenheim), Benedikt Howedes (Schalke 04), Marcell Jansen (Hamburg SV), Per Mertesacker (Arsenal), Heiko Westermann (Hamburg SV), Philipp Wollscheid (Bayer Leverkusen).

Midfielders: Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkusen), Sven Bender (Borussia Dortmund), Julian Draxler (Schalke 04), Kevin Grosskreutz (Borussia Dortmund), Aaron Hunt (Werder Bremen), Nicolai Muller (Mainz 05), Roman Neustadter (Schalke 04), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal), Stefan Reinartz (Bayern Leverkusen), Sidney Sam (Bayer Leverkusen), Andre Schurrle (Bayer Leverkusen).

Forwards: Max Kruse (Freiburg), Miroslav Klose (Lazio).

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Gregg Davies

Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.