Kroos, Muller and Ozil among stars left out of Germany's Confederations Cup squad

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Germany have opted to rest their biggest stars for the Confederations Cup in a bid to keep them fresh for a World Cup year in 2018.

Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller and Mesut Ozil are among the big names to be left out of Germany's squad for next month's Confederations Cup in Russia.

The world champions' head coach, Joachim Low, has opted to rest his top regular stars as he bids to keep the squad fresh for next season, which will culminate with the World Cup.

Jerome Boateng, Mario Gomez, Mats Hummels, Sami Khedira, Kroos, Muller and Ozil are all given an end-of-season break having been omitted from Low's squad.

After his potential selection was subject to much debate, Borussia Dortmund winger Marco Reus is also left out after he suggested he wanted to be rested after suffering several injuries in recent seasons. 

Other top stars Benedikt Howedes, Mario Gotze, Manuel Neuer and Julian Weigl were already ruled out due to injury or illness.

Low has named seven uncapped players in his 23-man squad – Kevin Trapp, Marvin Plattenhardt, Kerem Demirbay, Diego Demme, Lars Stindl, Sandro Wagner and Amin Younes.

The pool also includes Niklas Sule, Benjamin Henrichs and Timo Werner, all of whom have just one cap to their names.

Only three players from Germany's victorious 2014 World Cup squad will be at the Confederations Cup - Matthias Ginter, Shkodran Mustafi and Julian Draxler.

The tournament begins on June 17, concluding with the final on July 2, with Germany in Group B alongside Cameroon, Chile and Australia. 

Group A, meanwhile, includes hosts Russia, European champions Portugal, Mexico and New Zealand.
 

Germany squad for the Confederations Cup: 

Goalkeepers: Bernd Leno, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Kevin Trapp.

Defenders: Matthias Ginter, Jonas Hector, Benjamin Henrichs, Joshua Kimmich, Shkodran Mustafi, Marvin Plattenhardt, Antonio Rudiger, Niklas Sule.

Midfielders and Attackers: Julian Brandt, Emre Can, Kerem Demirbay, Diego Demme, Julian Draxler, Leon Goretzka, Sebastian Rudy, Leroy Sane, Lars Stindl, Sandro Wagner, Timo Werner, Amin Younes.

FourFourTwo Staff