Newcastle United pair Malick Thiaw and Nick Woltemade both featured for Germany on Sunday evening as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Greece in Thessaloniki.
It has been a mixed start to Jurgen Klopp's tenure as Germany head coach, with Die Mannschaft ending their four UEFA Nations League matches during the international break with five points from a possible 12. Germany were beaten at home by Greece but beat Serbia and drew with Netherlands to leave them three points adrift of Netherlands and Greece in their bid to qualify for March's Nations League finals.
Klopp to trim squad from 44 to 23-24 players
Klopp picked two separate squads for the four matches, with the first squad playing in the first two matches and the second squad playing in the second two matches. Thiaw and Woltemade were selected as part of the second squad as the former Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund manager used this break to take a look at an extended group of players.
But Klopp has now confirmed he will pick one smaller squad for November's Nations League fixtures against Serbia and Netherlands, reducing his squad size from 44 to a group of 23 to 24 players.
“We will calmly analyse the two weeks, and then in five weeks we have two international matches again with a reduced squad," the 59-year-old said. "Of course, we won’t be going there with 44 players. The door is open to everyone. If someone is not called up, they know it’s not because they’re not good enough, but because we have to stop at 23 to 24 players.
"We saw many players over these two weeks. Everyone showed what they could do; everyone earned their place. Think of all the things people said about us – what we can do, what we can’t do. We showed signs that we can do a few things better than people gave us credit for. The door is open to everyone. Wide open."
Thiaw impresses while Woltemade faces competition
That should be good news for Thiaw, who impressed across both of his starts to help Germany to successive clean sheets in the win over Serbia and draw with Greece. The Newcastle defender impressed alongside Borussia Dortmund defender Waldemar Anton and he is expected to compete alongside Bayern Munich's Jonathan Tah and Dortmund's Nico Schlotterbeck for a place in the starting XI next month.
However, Woltemade's place in the squad appears to be a little more unstable. Arsenal's Kai Havertz is the first choice up front for Germany and Klopp used the final two fixtures to look at Woltemade and Eintracht Frankfurt's Jonathan Burkardt. Woltemade missed a sitter from four yards out during his start in the win over Serbia which left the commentator on the UEFA feed in disbelief.
Meanwhile, Burkardt started in his place against Greece and looked like he had repaid Klopp's faith with a well taken goal from close range but it was ultimately disallowed because of a handball in the build-up.
But if it is a decision between the two strikers based on the strength of their performances in the two games, Burkardt may well have the edge leaving Woltemade with a challenge to prove his worth at club level over the coming weeks. Burkardt has started like a house on fire at Frankfurt this season scoring six goals in five games across all competitions. Meanwhile, Woltemade, who joined Juventus on a season-long loan deal from Newcastle last month, and has only started in one of his first four appearances for the Italian giants, scoring one goal from the penalty spot.
