GERMANY: SOCCER/FOOTBALL - Germans prepare for Wembley

The German national soccer team trained on Monday (August 20) night in the Frankfurt DFB (German Fotball Association) stadion ahead of its match on Wednesday (August 22) against England. Earlier, Germany coach Joachim Loew said that will be without most of his first choice team for the friendly at Wembley after Miroslav Klose and Bastian Schweinsteiger became the latest casualties on Sunday. Klose, the top scorer at the 2006 World Cup, had to be substituted at halftime in Bayern Munich's 4-0 win over Werder Bremen on Saturday after taking a heavy blow to his knee early in the game. Bayern team mate Schweinsteiger complained of back pain after the match and the club announced on Sunday that neither player would be joining up with the squad. Sami Khedira, the VfB Stuttgart player who had been hoping to make his full international debut against England, was also ruled out after suffering a foot injury in Saturday's 3-1 defeat by Hertha Berlin. Loew later called up David Odonkor of Real Betis and Gonzalo Castro from Bayer Leverkusen to bolster the squad. Winger Odonkor was a member of the Germany squad that finished third at the World Cup under Juergen Klinsmann last year. Defender Castro has made one appearance for Germany. Loew had already lost captain Michael Ballack, forwards Mario Gomez, Lukas Podolski and Jan Schlaudraff, midfielders Torsten Frings and Tim Borowski, and full-backs Marcell Jansen and Clemens Fritz. Ballack, Podolski, Klose, Schweinsteiger, Frings and Jansen are all fixtures in the Germany starting line-up whenever they are fit, meaning most of the coach's preferred team will be absent at Wembley on Wednesday.

ITN Source | August 21, 2007

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