Leeds United’s Robin Koch hasn’t made an appearance for Germany since Hansi Flick replaced Joachim Löw as Die Mannschaft manager last summer.
The defender picked up an injury in August 2021 and that forced him to miss not only the matches for the Whites in the first half of the season, but also rule him out for international breaks.
A week ago, the 25-year-old told Sky Deutschland he dreams of representing his country at the Qatar World Cup later this year, and to do that he first needs to convince the ex-Bayern Munich manager.
Germany take on Israel and the Netherlands in the ongoing international break and Flick included Jesse Marsch’s man in the squad for these two friendly fixtures. Ahead of these ties, the national team squad met at Gravenbruch near Frankfurt on Monday.
The German Football Association have now confirmed the Leeds centre-back was not part of the squad because he tested positive for Covid.
📍 Gravenbruch.
Nach Karim #Adeyemi (Muskelverletzung) und Joshua #Kimmich (Geburtstermin 3. Kind) wird auch Robin #Koch (positiver Antigen-Schnelltest vor der Anreise) heute nicht zur Mannschaft reisen. #DieMannschaft pic.twitter.com/g1bhrVhKRX — Die Mannschaft (@DFB_Team) March 21, 2022
“In addition to [Joshua] Kimmich, Robin Koch is not yet part of the team. The 25-year-old Leeds United player had a positive rapid antigen test before he arrived at the team hotel,” a statement read on DFB’s official website.
Robin Kock’s positive test follows that of Raphinha, and Leeds will hope the matter doesn’t spread further and is over before the Premier League restarts.
