GENT, BELGIUM – FEBRUARY 17: Max Kruse of Wolfsburg reacts after a missed chance on goal during the UEFA Champions League round of 16, first leg match between KAA Gent and VfL Wolfsburg at Ghelamco Arena on February 17, 2016 in Gent, Belgium. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

If you want to play soccer in Germany, you better not have a Nutella addiction.

Forward Max Kruse found this out the hard way when he was dropped from the German national team’s roster in advance of its friendly with England on Saturday.

Of course, the Nutella addiction was not the only strike against the 28-year-old. It was recently made public that Kruse left 75,000 euros of poker winnings in the back of a taxi in October. In addition, he was involved in an incident at a Berlin nightclub over the weekend while celebrating his birthday. A woman photographed Kruse at the club and he responded by taking her phone and attempting to delete the photos. Kruse later found out that she worked for the German newspaper, Bild.

Germany manager Joachim Low did not much offer sympathy for Kruse’s plight when asked about it.

“We need players who are focused on football and also understand their role as role models.

“I talked with Max about what I expect from players on and off the pitch. His actions in the last weeks were unprofessional.”

It seems Kruse’s fondness for Nutella was the smallest of the three transgressions in the eyes of the national team. However, his Bundesliga club, Wolfsburg, was fast losing patience with Kruse’s habitual consumption of the sugary hazelnut spread, according to the Daily Mail.

“This sort of thing is dealt with internally,” Allofs said of Kruse’s sweet tooth. “We speak with all of our players every six months. The aim is support them in such a way that will put them in a position to deliver their optimum performance.”

However, Allofs added: “Max does need to correct a few things.”

Kruse will additionally miss the national team’s friendly with Italy on Tuesday, and his status for the European Championships in France is also in doubt.

However, missing these sorts of competitions has not been too much of an issue for the forward in the past. When Kruse was left off the German World-Cup-winning team in 2014, he traveled to Las Vegas to compete in a World Series of Poker tournament while Die Mannschaft took home the title.

About Ben Sieck

Ben is a recent graduate of Butler University where he served as Managing Editor and Co-Editor-in-Chief for the Butler Collegian. He currently resides in Indianapolis.