A defender released by David Moyes while at Everton has been handed a surprise call up to the Germany squad by Joachim Low.
Shkodran Mustafi, now 21, was let go on a free transfer by Moyes in 2012 after making just one substitute appearance for the Goodison Park side.
But he has flourished at current club Sampdoria and has now been deemed good enough to make the Germany squad for their friendly with Chile on Wednesday.Centre-back Mustafi was a German youth international right through his time at Everton but made his only appearance as a substitute for Tony Hibbert in a Europa League tie with BATE Borisov in December 2009.
He moved on to the Serie A side in January 2012 for nothing and has since made 41 appearances.
Mustafi has a relatively low profile in Germany but was a member of the side that won the European Under-17 Championships in 2009 and has two Under-21 caps. He is one of four newcomers selected by Loew for the friendly in Stuttgart, alongside Matthias Ginter of Freiburg, Pierre-Michel Lasogga of Hamburg and Andre Hahn of Augsburg.
They could feature alongside stars Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mario Gotze, Mesut Ozil and Lukas Podolski in the match as Low decides his squad for the World Cup finals in Brazil.
'Many players, including key players, are still injured or just back from injuries and not yet in full form,' Low said.
'Now is the chance to act and find solutions and alternatives. That is why we brought some new faces.'
Mustafi was born in Germany but is also eligible for Albania because of his family heritage.
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