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Rising stars looking to shine in Berlin

With both teams top of their World Cup qualifying groups, respective coaches Joachim Loew and Fabio Capello believe tonight’s Germany-England friendly is a chance to put some new talent in the spotlight.

A host of big names will be missing at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, but rising stars from both countries will be given their chance to shine.

Germany are without household names Michael Ballack, Philipp Lahm and Torsten Frings, while England are shorn of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Owen and David Beckham.

But with the goal of reaching the 2010 World Cup in South Africa burning for both sides, this is a rare chance for the coaches to see how the younger members of their squads cope.

“You don’t have to talk England up as a strong side, they are always strong, regardless of injuries,” Loew said. “They are undefeated in World Cup qualifiers and that speaks for itself.”

“We are going to use this game to experiment, as far as the friendly games are concerned we have been successful, so this is the time to try things out,” he said.

Hoffenheim’s success in the Bundesliga has put them second in the table leading to uncapped defender Marvin Compper and midfielder Tobias Weis being called up by Loew.

And Wolfsburg defender Marcel Schaefer has also been promoted.

Likewise Loew’s opposite number Capello has said he will use the high-profile occasion to see how some of England’s young squad cope in the limelight.

Capello has picked five players who are still eligible for under-21 duty and could hand debuts to Aston Villa pair Gabriel Agbonlahor and Curtis Davies, plus Chelsea’s 20-year-old defender Michael Macienne.

The Italian says he will risk only a maximum of two of the rookies in the game, but the absence of stars allows him to use the match to get a feel for his next generation of talent.

England striker Darren Bent insists his side are under no pressure this time because of their fine start to their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign with four wins out of four.

“Because of how the boys have done in qualifying, the pressure is off,” the Tottenham striker told a news conference on Monday.

And Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick summed up the feelings of a number of young players looking to seize their chance to shine.

“To play for your country is a massive honor,” said the 27-year-old. “It’s not a meaningless friendly — Germany versus England at any level is a huge game.”

The absence of so many important players from the England side has provided plenty of ammunition for the conspiracy theorists who have argued that clubs make up injuries to get players out of international games they consider meaningless.

The clubs are unlikely to be too upset that the players won’t run the risk of getting injured at the Olympic Stadium and should be fresh to face Premier League opponents next weekend.

After Capello named his squad on Saturday, Liverpool announced on Sunday that Gerrard would be out for up 10 days with a leg muscle injury. But Gerrard scored and played a full part in Liverpool’s 2-0 victory at Bolton on Saturday.

Although Lampard injured his ribs in Chelsea’s game at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, he was able to finish the match. Rooney and Ferdinand last played for Manchester United at Arsenal on Nov. 8 and neither were limping when they finished playing.

“It’s just very unfortunate that we’ve got a lot of players who are regulars in the squad who are not around,” English Football Association spokesman Adrian Bevington said.

“The fact is that players have been down and have been assessed, we are satisfied that these players have legitimate injuries. The medical scans show it up so there shouldn’t be any suggestion or innuendo otherwise,” Bevington said.
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