Germany omits Ballack for Italy friendly
FRANKFURT, Germany — Germany coach Joachim Loew confounded expectations on Friday when he left captain Michael Ballack out of his squad for the friendly against Italy on February 9.Bayer Leverkusen midfielder…
FRANKFURT, Germany — Germany coach Joachim Loew confounded expectations on Friday when he left captain Michael Ballack out of his squad for the friendly against Italy on February 9.Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Ballack, who has 98 caps, only returned to the Bundesliga last weekend following four months out after he suffered a fractured left leg in September.Ballack made his last appearance for Germany in March 2010 and missed last year's World Cup after damaging ankle ligaments last May.The 34-year-old will now have to wait until at least the end of March -- when Germany play a friendly against Australia and a Euro 2012 qualifier -- before returning to the international fold.In his absence, Bayern Munich defender Philipp Lahm is expected to take over the captaincy against the Italians."We want to get into practice for the forthcoming Euro 2012 qualifier and friendlies," said Loew."We have checked things off after a successful World Cup year in 2010 and now we can concentrate on our new and important tasks ahead."The Italians will have an experienced and clever team, even if they went out of the World Cup early (in the group stage)."I am looking forward to a tough game between two big football nations."Loew has called up five players from runaway Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund, who are currently 11 points clear of Leverkusen in the German league.The Dortmund contingent is made up of Mario Goetze, Mats Hummels, Kevin Grosskreutz, Marcel Schmelzer and the uncapped Sven Bender.The match against Italy in Dortmund will be a re-run of the semi-final of the 2006 World Cup in the same stadium, when the Azzurri prevailed 2-0 against the hosts after extra time.Germany squadGoalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Schalke 04), Rene Adler (Bayer Leverkusen)Defenders: Arne Friedrich (Wolfsburg), Dennis Aogo (Hamburg), Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Jerome Boateng (Manchester City/ENG), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Marcel Schmelzer (Borussia Dortmund), Heiko W
last modification 2011-02-04 17:15:02
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