Germany coach Joachim Loew has said he is eager to experiment with both tactics and different players during the forthcoming friendlies against Ukraine and the Netherlands.
Germany play Ukraine tomorrow at Kiev’s Olympic Stadium, which will host the Euro 2012 final on July 1 next year, before tackling the Dutch in Hamburg four days later.
Loew has rested captain Philipp Lahm for both games, while vice captain Bastian Schweinsteiger is out with a broken collarbone.
Photo: AFP
Borussia Moenchengladbach midfielder Marco Reus is rated as doubtful after the 22-year-old informed Loew on Monday he is suffering from stomach flu and will not be able to meet up with the team in Hamburg on Tuesday.
A medical examination by the ’Gladbach club doctor was set to determine whether he is fit to play tomorrow.
Hannover 96 goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler is expected to make his debut in at least one of the games, while Real Madrid’s playmaker Mesut Ozil is likely to link up with Borussia Dortmund’s teenage star Mario Goetze in midfield.
Loew is also toying with the idea of playing strikers Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose in a traditional 4-4-2 formation, a change from his usual pattern of playing with a lone striker, but that will have to wait until the Dutch test.
Klose has been ruled out of tomorrow’s match with an inflammation of a tendon in his left knee, which requires him to rest for a few days, but he will join up with the squad on Saturday.
The last time Loew played with two strikers was in a 2-2 draw with the Ivory Coast in November 2009.
“The beginning of the main preparations for Euro 2012 are still a long way off, but we only have three games left before that,” said Loew, with Germany also set to host France in a friendly next February. “We will certainly experiment with tactics and players, but some things are now as automatic for us as a comfortable pair of sneakers. For all the ambition we have in terms of getting good results, what I’ll find out after these experiments will be very important. I’m planning to make a tactical change in one of the games.”
Both Marcel Schmelzer of Borussia Dortmund and Hamburg SV’s Dennis Aogo are competing for the leftback position vacated by Lahm, while Bayern Munich’s Toni Kroos may be asked to play as the only defensive midfielder.
Germany were the first team to book their place at Euro 2012 through the qualifying groups and they finished their campaign with a perfect record of 10 victories from 10 matches.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
RSS