The 24-year-old SCF player’s name was not on the list when the squad was officially announced on Monday. Now Keven Schlotterbeck can indeed start packing for Tokyo. After the injury to HSV’s Josha Vagnoman and the non-exemption of Augsburg’s new signing Niklas Dorsch, DFB coach Stefan Kuntz called up the Freiburg defender along with Ragnar Ache from Eintracht Frankfurt as replacements in Germany’s Olympic squad.

"I’m incredibly excited. Being part of the Olympic Games is a huge honour – it’s an event for the whole nation," said Schlotterbeck after receiving the call-up. "I’m just gonna soak it all up now and look forward to the new experience."

Sporting director Klemens Hartenbach is also pleased that another Freiburg player in addition to Florian Müller will be joining Team Germany in Tokyo. "The Olympics is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, which we obviously want to make sure Keven can experience, so, of course, we gave our permission."

Germany’s Olympic squad will meet on Monday in Frankfurt am Main and depart for Japan the following day. Their first opponent will be Brazil (22 July, 13:30 CEST).