Joachim Loew announces Germany squad
BERLIN. February 3. KAZINFORM Germany head coach Joachim Loew announced the 23 men squad for the upcoming friendly against France, the German Soccer Association (DFB) said on its official homepage on Friday, according to Xinhua.
Except the comeback of Mario Gomez and goalkeeper Rene Adler, the rest of the squad is composed of familiar faces, as Loew puts trust into proven personnel.
Loew called up Gomez, who has been sidelined for three months due to an ankle injury, for the friendly against "les Bleus" in Paris on Wednesday. "Mario Gomez is in a good physical state after he recovered from his long term injury," Loew said.
The 27-year-old striker returns into the "Nationalmannschaft" for the first time since the European championship's semifinal loss to Italy in June 2012.
It is at least a positive sign for the 57-time German international who has lost his starting position at Bayern Munich to teammate Mario Mandzuckic.
Another returnee will be Hamburg's goalkeeper Rene Adler, who turns up between the posts after 27 month of absence, following a clean sheet against Sweden in November 2010.
"Rene Adler plays a great Bundesliga season so far. He deserved the chance as he was already part of the team at the Netherlands friendly last year in November," Loew stated.
Nonetheless, Bayern's Manuel Neuer will be staring goalkeeper at the World Cup qualifiers, as "he is the undisputed number one," Loew added.
The Germans come up with a negative record against the Frenchmen with 11 losses, seven draws and six victories in 24 matches.
"The game will be a real endurance test. We are looking forward to this neighbourhood clash in Paris to get in tune with the direct qualification for the World Cup in Brazil, which is our firm goal," said the 52-year-old Germany coach.
Squad
Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Rene Adler (Hamburger)
Defender: Philipp Lahm, Jerome Boateng (both Bayern Munich), Mats Hummels, Marcel Schmelzer (both Borussia Dortmund), Benedikt Hoewedes (Schalke), Per Mertesacker (Arsenal), Heiko Westermann (Hamburg)
Midfielder: Lars Bender, Andre Schuerrle (both Bayer Leverkusen), Mario Goetze, Ilkay Guendogan, Marco Reus (all Borussia Dortmund), Julian Draxler (Schalke), Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos, Bastian Schweinsteiger (all Bayern Munich), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal London), Sami Khedira, Mesut Oezil (both Real Madrid)
Striker: Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich), Miroslav Klose (Lazio)