Kuranyi Leaves German National Team After Russia Match

David Wilson by Senior Writer Written on October 12, 2008
Germany_squad_feature

In perhaps the oddest news from the international match-up weekend, German international and Schalke 04 forward Kevin Kuranyi did not board the team bus after Saturday’s 2-1 win over Russian in World Cup qualifier action. 

Germany’s coach Joachim Low reported in a statement on the German Football Federation website on Sunday:

I cannot accept a reaction such as that shown by Kevin, and therefore I will no longer select him in future for the national side.

Kuranyi watched from the stands as forward Lukas Podolski and midfielder Michael Ballack each scored in the first half of the match.  Members from the 26-year-old’s entourage arrived at the German national team’s hotel to pick up his belongings on Sunday.  Is Kuranyi’s international career over at 52 caps?

How will his home supporters at Schalke react when he returns to the club’s stadium?   It will be interesting to see when Schalke hosts Paris St. Germain in UEFA Cup action on October 23rd. Kuranyi leads the club in scoring this season, with four goals. 

Will the exile of Kuranyi open the door again for Mario Gómez, who did not play well at Euro 2008?  The 23-year-old forward who plays for VfB Stuttgart should certainly benefit from Kuranyi’s odd decision. Gómez has three goals so far in 2008-09 Bundesliga action.

(0)
...
Share This  
Crop_45x45
or to post this comment

5 Comments

There are no comments yet. Get the conversation started by leaving the first comment

Loading more comments...
posted just now
  • Loading...
  • Nobody has liked this comment yet
Cancel

This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete

283
reads

5
comments

written on October 12, 2008 Breaking News

Telegraph.co.uk Football News

Visit Telegraph.co.uk for more news.

The best newsletter on the web

Subscribe Now

We will never share your email address


CBS Sports Official Partner
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Getty Images.
Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Getty Images is strictly prohibited.