Veteran Kruse in Germany’s squad for Tokyo Games

Berlin, Germany - Veteran striker Max Kruse was a surprise inclusion on Monday in Germany's men's squad for the Tokyo Olympic Games, five years after he was booted out of the national side.

The 33 year old joins Nadiem Amiri, 24, and Maximilian Arnold, 27, all full Germany internationals, as the three players in the squad born before 1997.

Amiri of Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg's Arnold won the 2017 European U21 title under Stefan Kuntz, who will coach the team at the Olympics.

Germany open their Olympic campaign with a game against Brazil on July 22 in a repeat of 2016's final in Rio de Janeiro.

Kruse earned his Germany call-up after scoring 11 goals, with five assists in the Bundesliga for Union Berlin last season. He won the last of his 14 caps in 2015, scoring the winning goal in a 2-1 win over Georgia after netting twice in a 7-0 thrashing of Gibraltar. However, then-coach Joachim Loew axed Kruse from the squad in early 2016 after several negative headlines.

Kruse, a well-known poker player, forgot a bag in a Berlin taxi containing US$89,058 in cash, then just days later was involved in a public argument in a nightclub with a reporter from daily newspaper Bild.

Kuntz has picked seven of the German U21 team which won the junior European championship last month. There are no players from Germany's top outfits and Kuntz said a 'willingness to support the Olympic team varied in the Bundesliga. Some big clubs unfortunately did not want to help as hoped'. The Olympic final is on August 7, less than a week before the new Bundesliga season starts on August 13.