Mats Hummels Labels Enforced Germany Retirement 'Incomprehensible' in Latest Response to Joachim Low

Bayern Munich defender Mats Hummels has responded to Joachim Low's decision to no longer consider him for German national team duty by labelling it "incomprehensible".

The 30-year-old centre back was told by Low that he, along with fellow club teammates Thomas Muller and Jerome Boateng, would be forced to retire from international duty ahead of Die Mannschaft's inaugural game of 2019 against Serbia on March 20. 

And, after seeing both his Bayern teammates respond to the incident, Hummels finally had his say. Writing on his official Twitter account, he proclaimed: “With a little distance, I also want to comment on the decision of the national coach.

“Regardless of the, in my view, difficult sporting decision (which I respect, of course), the way I received it is incomprehensible. In my opinion, I always had a good relationship with the people involved in the DFB and we have always treated each other fairly.

“Thomas, Jerome and I have been giving everything to the national team for years and in my opinion this decision does not do justice to what we have accomplished and achieved. And that leaves me anything but cold, because I loved playing for Germany!

“For me, I can say: they were wonderful years, 70 international matches that exceed everything that I once dreamed of as a child, by far. A total of four big tournaments where I was allowed to participate, crowned by winning the 2014 World Cup.

“I will carry that feeling forever and I would really like to do EVERYTHING to repeat something similar.”

Low justified his decision by claiming it was necessary to enforce such measures if the next generation were to be properly inducted into the fray. 

But it has been badly received by each player, especially in regards to how it was handled, with Boateng openly asking for an opportunity to say goodbye to the fans and Muller protesting that all three are still capable of playing at the highest level.