Karim Bellarabi's meteoric rise into Germany squad

Bayer Leverkusen's attacking midfielder Karim Bellarabi capped a meteoric rise on Thursday by being called up by world champions Germany for their Euro 2016 qualifiers against Poland and Ireland.
The 24-year-old, who scored the fastest goal in Bundesliga history last month, was relegated on loan at Eintracht Braunschweig in May, but has caught the eye of Germany coach Joachim Loew with a string of good displays for Leverkusen.
He is the only uncapped player in the 20-man squad for qualifiers against Poland in Warsaw on October 11 and the Republic of Ireland in Gelsenkirchen three days later.
Loew has also recalled Borussia Dortmund captain Mats Hummels and Borussia Moenchengladbach striker Max Kruse, but is without injured midfielders Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira, Marcos Reus and striker Mario Gomez.
In August, Bellarabi wrote his name into Bundesliga history by scoring after just nine seconds of Leverkusen's 2-0 league win over Dortmund.
"Karim Bellarabi has earned this chance after some excellent performances for his club," said Loew.
"He is unbelievably strong in the one-on-ones and is an excellent alternative in our attack."
Germany won their opening qualifier with a 2-1 victory over Scotland in Dortmund in August and Loew wants to make sure they take six points from the two games.
"We must be aware that European qualification is not automatic, even for the world champions," said Loew, with Germany second in Group D on goal difference to Poland after one match.
"I am convinced of the quality of the team and we have the opportunity in these games to set ourselves apart from the competition, so these two matches are very important for us going forward."
For the first time, Loew will have his new assistant Thomas Schneider next to him on the bench with predecessor Hansi Flick having been promoted to the German Football Association's director of sport.
Germany squad
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hanover 96)
Defender: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Erik Durm (Borussia Dortmund), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Dortmund), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Shkodran Mustafi (FC Valencia/ESP), Antonio Ruediger (VfB Stuttgart), Sebastian Rudy (Hoffenheim)
Midfielders: Karim Bellarabi (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Schalke 04), Christoph Kramer (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid/ESP), Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal/ENG), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal/ENG), Andre Schuerrle (Chelsea/ENG)
Forwards: Mario Goetze (Bayern Munich), Max Kruse (Borussia Moenchengladbach)
Source: AFP