City star Sane out of Germany

Manchester City winger Leroy Sane has been surprisingly omitted from Germany’s final 23-man World Cup squad.

Sane was a key member of a City side who won the Premier League title with a record 100 points and was named the PFA Young Player of the Year.

But Joachim Low left out the 22-year-old when he named his final 23-man squad for Russia 2018 yesteyday.

There were places for Sane’s City teammate Ilkay Gundogan, Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil and Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger.

Twitter Ads info and privacy

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has been given the No 1 jersey and will also captain the side.

Neuer had been sidelined since September with a metatarsal injury but made his return in the 2-1 defeat by Austria at the weekend. Sane, who scored 10 goals and provided 15 assists in 28 games for City during the season, was one of four players who failed to make the final cut, along with Bernd Leno, Jonathan Tah and Nils Petersen. Asked about Sane’s omission, Low said: “It was a very tight decision between him and Julian Brandt (of Bayer Leverkusen) which went in favour of Brandt.

“There are better days in the life of a national team coach, when you have to send four amazing players, who deserve to be at the World Cup, home.

“It’s like being at the airport check-in counter en route to Moscow and you are not allowed to board the plane.”

Neuer is thrilled to have returned to fitness in time for the tournament and said: “I always had the goal in front of me. Defending champions Germany will begin their campaign against Mexico on June 17 before facing Sweden (June 23) and South Korea (June 27).

London:

FIFA has been criticised for prioritising commercial gain over eliminating racism from football by the chair of anti-discrimination group Kick It Out.

The world governing body fined England £16,000 after a young England player used an energy drink which was not that of the official sponsor at last year’s Under-20 World Cup.

The sanction was £6,000 less than Russia’s fine for the racist abuse of France’s black players during a friendly in March.

Kick It Out chair Lord Herman Ouseley said: “This incident is just another example of why there is little confidence in FIFA to respond robustly to incidents of discrimination at the World Cup this summer.”

Sky Sports