GERMANY: German football coach Loew says Ballack, Gomez to miss Germany's Wembley trip

Germany will be without several key players for their first visit to the new Wembley Stadium in London next week. Germany will be without captain Michael Ballack and striker Mario Gomez when they take on England in a friendly international at Wembley on Aug. 22. Ballack has yet to play for Chelsea this season because of his ankle injury, while Gomez, Player of the Year in the Bundesliga last season, has a thigh problem. Midfielders Torsten Frings and Tim Borowski were also left out of a 20-man squad named on Thursday (August 16) by coach Joachim Loew because of injury. Midfielder Sami Khedira and defender Serdar Tasci, both of champions VfB Stuttgart, were called up for the first time by Loew. "They (Khedira and Tasci) are both still very young but both of them have the ability not to get nervous in stress situations," Loew said. "Both of them are relatively grown up already as far as their personality goes. That's why we decided to give those two players a chance to see how they act within the A team." Visits to Wembley have always been occasions to savour according to former Germany striker Uwe Seeler. "Wembley is something special and I think every player would confirm that. That's why I'm already looking forward to the next game, even though it's only a friendly. But these games against England are always of a special nature which you can't even describe," he said. Germany are five points clear at the top of Euro 2008 qualifying group D. Their next competitive match is away to Wales on September 8. Another veteran player, Paul Breitner, said Germany was the only international side to meet expectations this year. Squad: Goalkeepers: Timo Hildebrand (Valencia, Spain), Jens Lehmann (Arsenal, England) Defenders: Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen), Marcell Jansen (Bayern Munich), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid, Spain), Serdar Tasci (VfB Stuttgart) Midfielders: Roberto Hilbert (VfB Stuttgart), Thomas Hitzlsperger (VfB Stuttgart), Sami Khedira (VfB Stuttgart), Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), Bernd Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg SV) Forwards: Patrick Helmes (Cologne), Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke 04).

ITN Source | August 17, 2007

Tags:. .veteran. .captain. .stadium. .berlin. .mario