Löw names preliminary Euro 2016 squad

Löw’s squad unveiled at a news conference at the French embassy in Berlin includes three players called up for the first time: Bayer Leverkusen's Julian Brandt, Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich, and Julian Weigl of Borussia Dortmund.

Löw had warm praise for all three.

"Julian is very good technically and is fast," Löw said. "He's scored a few goals (in the Bundesliga) and is in good form."

Löw praised Kimmich as having "trained and played at a high level, even at times in the Champions League."

Weigl, Löw said, "plays a key role in midfield at Borussia Dortmund" and is a good passer and good on the ball.

Also named to the squad was Schalke's Leroy Sané, who has just one national team match to his name.

14 World Cup winners

The squad, though, also has a good deal of experience, boasting 14 members of Germany's 2014 World Cup-winning team.

Löw included Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, despite concerns about the 31-year-old's fitness following a couple of knee injuries.

Löw will have just one friendly match to look at his players before he has to finalize his roster, a game against Slovakia in Augsburg on May 29. They play Hungary in Gelsenkirchen on June 4 in another friendly.

Having named just three goalkeepers to the provisional squad, all four cuts will have to come from the outfield players.

Germany will be up against Ukraine, Poland and Northern Ireland in Group C in Euro 2016, which kicks off on June 10 in Paris.

Provisional Germany squad:

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer, Berd Leno, Marc-André ter Stegen

Defenders: Jérôme Boateng, Emre Can, Jonas Hector, Benedikt Höwedes Mats Hummels, Shkodran Mustafi, Sebastian Rudy, Antonio Rüdiger

Midfielders/ attackers: Karim Bellarabi, Julian Brandt, Julian Draxler, Mario Götze, Mario Gomez, Sami Khedira, Joshua Kimmich, Toni Kroos, Mesut Özil, Lukas Podolski, Marco Reus, Leroy Sané, André Schürrle, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Müller, Julian Weigl.