Joachim Loew Announces Germany Squad For Italy Friendly: Sven Bender Earns First Call-UpFive Dortmund starlets, including debutant Sven Bender, will join Jogi Loew's World Cup stars for Wednesday's friendly against Italy.
By Clark Whitney
Feb 4, 2011 1:57:00 PM
Germany coach Joachim Loew has revealed the 22-man squad that will be available for next Wednesday's friendly match against Italy.
The gaffer, who celebrated his 51st birthday yesterday, included several emerging starlets along with all his World Cup starters. Most notably, Sven Bender earned his first call up to the senior Germany team. The midfielder has had an excellent season, and is one of five Dortmund players to be nominated to Loew's squad. In addition to the 21-year-old, Mats Hummels, Marcel Schmelzer, Mario Goetze and Kevin Grosskreutz have been selected.
Loew opted not to hand second call-ups to Mainz duo Lewis Holtby and Andre Schuerrle, both of whom earned international debuts last November in a friendly against Sweden. Other notable exclusions were Bremen winger Marko Marin, Stuttgart striker Cacau, and Leverkusen midfielder Michael Ballack.
Germany will kick off against Italy on Wednesday at 18:45 local time. The match will be held in Dortmund, where the two sides last competitively met in the 2006 World Cup semi-final.
Goalkeepers: Rene Adler, Manuel Neuer
Defence: Dennis Aogo, Holger Badstuber, Jerome Boateng, Arne Friedrich, Mats Hummels, Philipp Lahm, Per Mertesacker, Marcel Schmelzer, Heiko Westermann
Midfield: Sven Bender, Mario Goetze, Kevin Grosskreutz, Sami Khedira, Mesut Oezil, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Christian Traesch
Attack: Mario Gomez, Miroslav Klose, Thomas Mueller, Lukas Podolskihttp://www.goal.com/en/news/468/internationals/2011/02/04/2337586/joachim-loew-announces-germany-squad-for-italy-friendly-sven
