Philipp Lahm will be Germany’s World Cup captain, taking the place of the injured Michael Ballack, while Nigeria have welcomed back John Obi Mikel.
Germany coach Joachim Loew named Bayern Munich defender Lahm on Friday to stand in for Ballack, who will miss next month’s finals in South Africa because of an ankle injury.
Rightback Lahm, 26, who also played in the 2006 World Cup, is one of the German squad’s most experienced players, with 64 caps.
PHOTO: EPA
“Lahm has played in his position with great class and will take over the role of captain,” Loew told reporters at the team’s Italian training camp.
Loew also announced that Manuel Neuer, who plays for Schalke 04, would be the starting goalkeeper at the finals, with Werder Bremen’s Tim Wiese the second choice and Bayern Munich’s Hans-Joerg Butt third.
The squad will have a guest of honor at dinner tomorrow, when German Chancellor Angela Merkel pays a visit.
Nigeria announced that Chelsea midfielder Mikel would be fit for the World Cup after he joined the squad for the first time since knee surgery last month.
The squad are training in eastern England and play Colombia in a friendly in Milton Keynes today.
Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac plans to use warm-up games against the Netherlands and Latvia to reorganize his team after influential midfielder Michael Essien was ruled out of the World Cup with a knee injury.
“We will have to make a number of tactical adjustments because Essien is probably the best player in the world in his position and coping without him will be very difficult,” Rajevac said.
In South Africa, tournament organizers faced headaches with police called in to control angry crowds after the ticketing system collapsed as they tried to buy seats and officials complaining about fans who caused traffic jams at the Soccer City Stadium by not using public transport.
Two cleaners at a Johannesburg hotel were charged with stealing money from the rooms of the Colombia team before a friendly against South Africa and Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar added to the organizers’ woes by describing the official tournament ball as “terrible, horrible.”
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