FC Schalke 04 striker Kevin Kuranyi will not be part in Germany's squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This was officially announced on Monday, May 3 by the German national coach Joachim Loew.
And it ends weeks of speculations if the in form striker would make a comeback in the German national team or not.
In the last few weeks it has been a major topic in the German media, amongst the public and in football circles. Even German legend Franz Beckenbauer came out in support of Kuranyi's comeback as Germany face a striker problem as he termed it.
Regular strikers Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski have been out of form all season, while Mario Gomes has over the last few weeks not played much for Bayern Munich. Only Bayer 04 Leverkusen striker Stefan Kießling has been in great form having scored 21 goals in the Bundesliga so far.
Loew had a telephone conversation with Kuranyi on Monday before the news was made public on the German FA's website. Loew is set to announce his 30 member provisional squad on Thursday, May 6.
Kevin Kuranyi has been playing his best season in professional football so far, having scored 18 goals for Schalke, who will finish second in the German Bundesliga.
Kuranyi has not been part of the German national team since October 2008 when the striker was omitted from the 18 member squad to face Russia in a 2010 World Cup qualifier in Dortmund. Kuranyi was sitting with the other left out players, but then walked out of the stadium while the match was still going on out of anger.
This led to him being never selected again, but according to Loew this wasn't the reason why he didn't select Kuranyi. The striker simply didn't fit into his plans as the coach termed it.
For Kuranyi this is the second time he misses out on playing in a World Cup. In 2006 he was a last minute omission by then coach Juergen Klinsmann.
One can only hope for coach Loew that this decision will not haunt him afterwards...
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