Jonas Hector has resigned from the German national soccer team after a report by “Kicker”. The captain of Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln is said to have informed national coach Joachim Löw about his decision to resign before the international matches in September. The 30-year-old announced this plan to those responsible at his club back in July.
1. FC Köln initially did not respond to a SPIEGEL request.
The defender made his selection debut on November 14, 2014 in a 4-0 win in the European Championship qualification against Gibraltar. In total, Hector made 43 international appearances and scored three goals. He last played against Northern Ireland for the national team on November 19, 2019. At the international matches in 2020 he was no longer part of the squad. In the back left position, Löw recently nominated Marcel Halstenberg (RB Leipzig) and Robin Gosens from Atalanta Bergamo.
Hector experienced his best time in the national team at the 2016 European Championships. At the tournament in France, he played over the full distance in all six games up to the semi-finals against the European Championship hosts (0: 2). In the quarter-finals earlier against Italy, Hector brought the decision as the ninth shooter on penalties. The Cologne native also won the Confederation Cup 2017 with the DFB team.
Hetor’s path to the national team was also considered special because the defender didn’t get into professional football until the age of 22. Hector has never attended a youth academy.
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