Shkodran Mustafi could not believe his luck when he strode out on the pitch for Germany at the 2014 World Cup.

The Arsenal defender, who moved to north London from Valencia last summer, had been included in his first Germany squad only a few months before the tournament.

But in Die Mannschaft's opening group match in Brazil, Mustafi was substituted on for Mats Hummels, just three weeks after making his debut against Poland.

The 24-year old reflected on his fortunate call-up to the 2014 World Cup squad to Arsenal Player.

He said: "Unfortunately Marco Reus got injured in the last game just before they went to Brazil. I got a call when I was in the car. I missed the first one and then the assistant coach called me, so I made sure I didn't miss that one.

"He said, 'You have to be quick because we're waiting for you in Frankfurt at the airport. Marco Reus is injured and the coach wants you to meet the squad to come with us to Brazil'.

"I didn't ask many more questions, I just went home, packed my bags and then went straight to the airport. It was so unbelievable for me because the first game of the World Cup was my first proper game for Germany.

"It was against Portugal at the World Cup so I was thinking, 'Woah, what's going on?'. It was really, really strange and I was really, really excited. In the end, we won the World Cup so it was a brilliant story."