Kruse kicked off Germany squad for questionable behavior

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Germany coach Joachim Loew has kicked Max Kruse off his squad following two recent off-field incidents, putting the Wolfsburg forward in doubt for the European Championship.

Kruse lost a large amount of cash in a Berlin taxi in October and was then was involved in an incident in a Berlin club while celebrating his 28th birthday on Saturday.

In a statement from the German football federation, Loew said that Kruse had repeatedly acted unprofessionally.

"I already told him clearly last week what I expect of him, on and off the field," Loew said. "I want players who are focused on football and the European Championship, also between matches.

"The incident last weekend contradicts my expectations. Max has behaved unprofessionally repeatedly. I can't accept it. The European Championship is coming up this summer and we need players who are focused and who conscious of their model role."

Kruse will miss Germany's friendlies with England on Saturday and with Italy three days later, but he could also be excluded from the European Championship in France.

In the latest incident in Berlin, Kruse grabbed the phone of a woman who was snapping photographs of him in a club where he was celebrating his birthday and deleted the photographs. The woman happened to be working for the mass-circulation newspaper Bild, which reported the incident.

Kruse later apologized to the woman but was fined by his club 25,000 euros ($28,000).

The forward was fined a similar amount last week after reports surfaced that he had lost 75,000 euros ($84,500) in cash in a Berlin taxi in October.

Kruse already had been left off the World Cup squad when Germany won the title two years ago in Brazil, reportedly again because of an off-field incident.

While Germany was winning its fourth World Cup title, Kruse competed in a World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas.