[Trim]

Germany host neighbours Denmark in a Duisburg friendly on Wednesday night amid Danish claims that Bundestrainer Joachim Löw has been disrespectful to the visitors. Brian O'Driscoll previews the game.

After Saturday’s superb 2-1 Euro 2008 Group D win in Prague against the Czech Republic, Joachim Löw opted to rest several of his first-teamers for the Denmark friendly as a sop to the Bundesliga clubs.

However, Danish coach Morten Olsen reacted with fury on hearing the news. "This is very disrespectful," he told the German press on Tuesday. "We had a clear agreement to field our strongest teams. I wasn't told about it by the DFB. I read about it in the newspapers, and you don't do that."

Whatever the legitimacy or otherwise of Olsen’s claims, Germany will take the field without Michael Ballack, goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, Philipp Lahm, Lukas Podolski, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Torsten Frings, Per Mertesacker, and Bernd Schneider. Noticeably, all play for clubs chasing championships or the reward of European football.

"We have to experiment sometimes," explained Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff. "We want to see some of the players who are usually in the second tier."

This means that Hannover’s Robert Enke gets a well deserved chance between the posts, Bayer Leverkusen’s Gonzalo Castro should start at full back, and the revitalised Alexander Madlung is likely to stake his claim in defence. Hamburger SV’s exciting Piotr Trochowski has another chance to shine in midfield, while Alemannia Aachen’s Bayern-bound Jan Schlaudraff should partner Saturday’s two-goal hero Kevin Kuranyi in attack.

Olsen’s tetchiness can possibly be explained by his side’s 2-1 qualification reverse in Spain on Saturday night. His mood was hardly helped by the loss of midfielder Martin Jorgensen who pulled out of the squad for personal reasons.

This won’t be the first time Denmark have faced a deliberately weakened German XI. Back in 1986, the Germans fielded a number of reserves for the World Cup Group E match in Queretaro. Denmark won 2-0 and qualified to face Spain in the last 16. The Germans’ reward? Morocco.

POSSIBLE TEAMS:

Germany: Enke; Castro, Friedrich, Madlung, Jansen; Fritz, Rolfes, Hitzlsperger; Trochowski, Kuranyi, Schlaudraff

Denmark: Sorensen; Andreasen, Gravgaard, Jacobsen, Agger; Jensen, Poulsen, Rommedahl, Gronkjaer; Bendtner, Tomasson