Team: GERMANY

[RunX]

ohh Marin Should Stay .. :S

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Schweinsteiger Injury Not Too Serious

German national team trainer Joachim Löw can be relieved after learning that the injury suffered by Bastian Schweinsteiger in Tuesday’s friendly with Belarus is not as serous as first feared.

The foot injury picked up by the Bayern Munich midfielder is not as serious as it first seemed and will not endanger his participation at the forthcoming European Championships.

The 23 year old was caught by a late tackle from Hamburg midfielder Anton Putsilo during the German’s 2-2 draw with Belarus. The challenge quite rightly earned a yellow card for Putsilo.

“My first reaction was that he had caught me more heavily than he actually did” Schweinsteiger confessed. “The bone is swollen and I’m in pain, but thanks goodness the ligaments are okay.”

It remains to be seen how long a break from training the injury will require and whether he will be fit for the German’s next friendly warm-up against Serbia on Saturday.

“There isn’t an exact prognosis” he said. “We’ll just have to see, but I’m sure that it won’t be too long.”

There is better news concerning Tim Borowski. The soon-to-be Bayern midfielder has reportedly recovered from his cold and has made a full return to training and should be available against Serbia at the weekend.

Goal.com - Germany - Schweinsteiger Injury Not Too Serious

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German Trio Disappointed At Missing Out

German trio Jermaine Jones, Patrick Helmes and Marko Marin have all revealed their disappointment at being dropped from the final 23-man squad, but have all wished the team well for the upcoming tournament.

Bundestrainer Joachim Löw took the difficult decision to drop Schalke midfielder Jermaine Jones, new Leverkusen forward Patrick Helmes and young Mönchengladbach starlet Marko Marin from his final squad that will challenge for this summer’s European Championship.

The trainer admitted that the decision had been an extremely difficult one, and assured all three that they had a bright future with the national team. All three were understandably disappointed to be axed from the final selection.

“Taking part in the Euro finals was a big target of mine, which I have now missed. I gave my all in training and have nothing to be ashamed of” Schalke midfielder Jones said.

“I’ll now go away on holiday with the family, but I wish the team all the success. It would be great if they could win the title.”

Striker Patrick Helmes also missed out with veteran Oliver Neuville taking the fifth strikers place in the final squad.

“Of course I’m sad because I would have loved to have been at the finals. Despite that I shouldn’t be surprised, because I knew from the start that I could be one of the three to miss out” Helmes revealed.

“After a holiday, I’ll be back and hope to get another chance after the European Championships.”

Many pundits had predicted that Joachim Löw would take young star Marko Marin along to the finals particularly after an impressive debut as a second half substitute against Belarus. However, the Mönchengladbach winger ultimately missed out.

“It was great for me to be involved in the 26-man squad, and of course I dreamed that I would be selected for the finals. It is a shame that I won’t be there” he admitted.

“But I have played my first international and I am still young. I am really looking forward to being invited along again and I’ll have my fingers crossed for the lads at the finals” he added.

Goal.com - Germany - German Trio Disappointed At Missing Out

[__-SNAKE-__]

I guess he opted for experience of Neuville instead of Helmes, I like Neuville he should do OK. Glad that Jones was taken off and would have preffered Marin instead of that headless chicken Odonkor, dont care about Piotr.

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Germany
1 Jens Lehmann
2 Marcell Jansen
3 Arne Friedrich
4 Clemens Fritz
5 Heiko Westermann
6 Simon Rolfes
7 Bastian Schweinsteiger
8 Torsten Frings
9 Mario Gómez
10 Oliver Neuville
11 Miroslav Klose
12 Robert Enke
13 Michael Ballack
14 Piotr Trochowski
15 Thomas Hitzlsperger
16 Philipp Lahm
17 Per Mertesacker
18 Tim Borowski
19 David Odonkor
20 Lukas Podolski
21 Christoph Metzelder
22 Kevin Kuranyi
23 René Adler
Coach: Joachim Löw

euro2008.uefa.com - Final squads announced for EURO

[Eric]

it's pretty ok i think.

I would have taken marin over odonkor but i think loew has the feeling that odonkor is a better weapon in the last 10 minutes....

i just have to say poland - germany 90th minute in 2006: goal by neuville, assist odonkor

[The Rule]

I'd love to see Podolski and Mario Gomez play together from the start of one of the group games.

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Germany 2-1 Serbia

Despite dominating the game, Germany went behind early on and left it late to seal a comeback win, with goals from Oliver Neuville and Michael Ballack.

Goal.com - Internationals - Two Goals In Eight Minutes Seal Late Win For Germany

[__-SNAKE-__]

I think he will start with Klose and Gomez.

[Vargas_4]

Saw the match.

Jansen did a very good match. Was very impressed. He looked to get involved and did very well. He did get outplayed in a counter by Serbia, where after being beaten; a pass was given to a Serbian striker and lucky for us, it hit the post.

Ballack did a good game. Really looked to get involved and managed a good goal.

Unimpressed by Kuranyi. He was sometimes invisible.

Surprised that Gomez missed an easy tap in (provided by Jansen).

Felt we started playing better after we conceded the goal (Metzelder's lack of games showed, by the way) but didn't have a clear idea on how to attack, IMO. But glad we managed the win.

[Robinho4Ever]

The Goals:

TalkSoccer Media Player

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New options
Podolski shines in left midfield berth

Germany boss Joachim Löw awarded his men two days off following their 2-1 victory over Serbia in a final pre-Euro 2008 warm-up. The Germans take up residence at their pre-tournament base in Ascona on Lake Maggiore this Tuesday, during which time the coach will be weighing up his selection options. He will certainly be considering how best to deploy Lukas Podolski.

A recognised striker, the Bayern man has emerged recently as an alternative on the left side of midfield. “One variation has Lukas playing on the left,“ Löw mused after the Serbia clash, where Podolski played the second half as a midfielder. The man who partnered Miroslav Klose in Germany’s 2006 World Cup attack has now appeared in midfield in four of his last six international outings.

Praised by coach

Podolski’s energy, dynamism and willingness to shoot from all angles earned plaudits on Saturday. “I was pleased with him,“ Löw commented afterwards. “He applied a lot of pressure, and our best moves originated down the left. Lukas Podolski is making a very good impression.“

The 22-year-old declared himself satisfied with his 45-minute run-out. “Whenever I come on, I always give it my best shot. It worked out pretty well to a certain extent,“ he commented. Podolski mined an increasingly rich vein of form over the last few weeks of the Bundesliga campaign, with five goals and two assists in the last nine games of Bayern’s double-winning season.

Late decision

Podolski’s timing appears to be perfect. “I’m not wasting any thought as to who gets picked for the Euro,“ the left-footed ace continued, although he appears certain to feature somewhere in Löw’s plans. “We haven’t heard the last word on the subject,“ the coach declared, indicating he would wait until much closer to the Germans’ Euro opener against Poland on 8 June before deciding how best to deploy Podolski’s talents: “What happens in training will play a major role.“

Podolski shines in left midfield berth

[The Rule]

Neuer, Hildebrand, Wiese and Weidenfeller are all far better than Lehmann.

I'd worry for Germany if they have to depend on Lehmann.

It's ridiculous that with the 4 i named and Adler all to call on, that Lehmann is still in the squad. Same with Enke.

[BlackNess]

Originally Posted by The Rule

Neuer, Hildebrand, Wiese and Weidenfeller are all far better than Lehmann.

I'd worry for Germany if they have to depend on Lehmann.

It's ridiculous that with the 4 i named and Adler all to call on, that Lehmann is still in the squad. Same with Enke.

You are wrong mate, Enke is way better than Lehmann, Enke is one of the top 3 now in Germany .

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German team arrives in Ascona

The German team and the entire entourage, a group of 70 people, has arrived in Switzerland. The Lufthansa LH 5010 landed on the Lugano airport following a 55-minute flight from Frankfurt. 45 minutes later the team arrived in Ascona.

A delegation of the canton Tessin welcomed the team on the tarmac. DFB-President Dr. Theo Zwanziger and General Secretary Wolfgang Niersbach received a special gift, an original Swiss cowbell. Both the director of the team’s hotel ‘Il Giardino’, Gregor Furrer, and Bixio Caprara, the manager of the sports center in Tenero, greeted coach Joachim Löw and his players upon their arrival in Lugano.

100 children from a nearby elementary school, wearing Germany t-shirts and waving black, red and gold flags, also were part of the reception committee, as well as 60 fans and 50 journalists and ten camera-teams.

All players travelled by plane except Oliver Neuville, a native son of Locarno, who had spend a day with relatives in the region.

DFB - Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. - Startseite

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Germany win test against Tessin team 8-0

On Wednesday, the "Mannschaft" won a test over 80 minutes against an Under 18 team of the canton Tessin 8-0 in Ascona. Miroslav Klose, Mario Gomez (both 2), Kevin Kuranyi, Lukas Podolski, Oliver Neuville and Thomas Hitzlsperger scored for the German team.

DFB - Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. - Startseite