Last tough test before nomination
75 days before the start of the UEFA EURO 2008, German international coach Joachim Löw is putting his candidates through a hard test.
"The match against Switzerland is the last contest before the nomination. There are a lot of questions that have to be answered. It will be a very intense match, because to me Switzerland, who are building a fortress in Basel, is a favourite in the European Cup competition", said Löw in the run-up to the 800th international match of the German international team and the 50th meeting with their counterparts on Wednesday (20:45 CET) in Basel's St. Jakob Park.
Less than two months before EURO 2008
International players have less than two months to prove their merits before the official selection decisions are made on May 16th for the EURO 2008 in Austria and Switzerland (June 7th to the 29th). Neither the weak showing against Wales (0-0) in Frankfurt nor the injury situation of his players has been much of a source of irritation for the extremely calm German coach, who is heading the selection process of the German Football Association (DFB) going into his first major tournament.
"Of course we have to show improvement in comparison to how we played against Austria. We looked really bad in the first half of that match. But that match doesn't worry me because we didn't show what we're capable of", said the 48 year-old coach.
The tentative German line-up:
Lehmann - Lahm, Arne Friedrich, Mertesacker, Jansen - Schneider, Ballack, Hitzlsperger, Schweinsteiger - Gomez, Klose.
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