Baumann replaces Ter Stegen for Germany’s Nations League games

Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann on Thursday named Oliver Baumann to replace injured goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen for two Nations League games.

Serge Gnabry and Antonio Ruediger return for the matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina away on October 11 and the tie against the Netherlands in Munich on October 14. 

Nagelsmann handed a first call-up to 29-year-old Borussia Moenchengladbach striker Tim Kleindienst, who comes into the 23-man squad for injured West Ham forward Niclas Fuellkrug.

Ter Stegen injured his knee with club side Barcelona in September. With long-term Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer having retired in August, Hoffenheim’s Baumann is in line to play his first game in Germany colours.

Bild reported on Wednesday he could share goalkeeping duties with Stuttgart’s Alexander Nuebel in the two fixtures, but the coach rejected the idea, saying Baumann would play both games.

“He’s our number one and it’ll stay that way,” Nagelsmann said. 

Baumann, 34, was first called up to the Germany squad in 2020 but is yet to take the pitch at international level. 

As he has done since early 2023, Nagelsmann has continued to pick players on form, often from lesser known clubs, rather than on reputation. 

Bayern’s Leon Goretzka again missed out, as did Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi despite scoring 10 goals in his past seven games.

Real Madrid defender Rudiger returns having been rested after Euro 2024 where Germany exited at the quarter-final stage, while Gnabry returns from an injury which kept him out of the tournament.

Dortmund pair Emre Can and Maximilian Beier also miss out.

Like Fuellkrug, Kleindienst is a late bloomer with an old-school personality rarely seen in modern football. 

Like Fuellkrug, who was also called up for the first time aged 29, Kleindienst played a key role in bringing a team up from the second division.

He told Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung “I may not be the most delicate footballer, but I live a little bit of that mongrel mentality.”

The forward scored 25 goals in 32 second division games including the crucial strike deep into stoppage time which sent Heidenheim to the top tier.

He backed that up with 12 in the top flight last season, earning him a move to Gladbach.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Alexander Nuebel (Stuttgart), Janis Blaswich (Salzburg/AUT)

Defenders: Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Maximilian Mittelstaedt (Stuttgart), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Ruediger (Real Madrid/ESP), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)

Midfielders: Robert Andrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Chris Fuehrich (Stuttgart), Pascal Gross (Borussia Dortmund), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Bayern Munich), Angelo Stiller (Stuttgart), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)

Forwards: Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), Kai Havertz (Arsenal/ENG), Tim Kleindienst (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart)