Mats Hummels was able to take part in team training with the national soccer team for the first time two days before the European Championship friendly against Turkey.
The 34-year-old Borussia Dortmund defender had only been able to train individually this week due to his back problems. National coach Julian Nagelsmann had all 25 players in his squad available on the DFB campus in Frankfurt.
Use still open
Hummels took part in the first 15 minutes of the training session, which were public to the media, without any noticeable problems. It was initially unclear whether he would be able to play in the Berlin Olympic Stadium on Saturday.
In BVB’s Bundesliga game last Saturday in Stuttgart (1:2), the veteran was substituted in the early stages with pain. Afterwards he had already given the all-clear for the international matches. “It usually takes 3-4 days until it works again,” he wrote on Instagram.
Return to the national team
Nagelsmann helped Hummels make his DFB comeback after almost two and a half years and is planning to have him as a leading player for the home European Championships. Against the USA (3:1), the Dortmund player was in the starting lineup as a central defender alongside Antonio Rüdiger at the national coach’s debut, but in the following game against Mexico (2:2) he was called off because of BVB’s approaching Bundesliga game against Bremen (1 :0) not used due to stress reasons.
