Klinsmann Names German Squad for Matches Against Slovakia and South Africa.

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Klinsmann Names German Squad for Matches Against Slovakia and South Africa.

Submitted by Scott Harkness on Tue, 23/08/2005 - 17:41.

Germany's National football coach, ex-playing legend Jurgen Klinsmann, has named his squad for next month's World Cup friendly warm-up game away against Slovakia next Tuesday. The team will also be playing South Africa on Sept. 7 at home in Bremen.

The squad has all the names you would expect, with FC Schalke's Gerald Asamoah and Kevin Kuranyi, likely to be the striking partnership, with Lucas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger in midfield.

Klinsmann also picked defenders Marcell Jansen and Lukas Sinkiewicz. Sinkiewicz has only played six Bundesliga games in total for his club FC Cologne in his role as central defender, so he is a surprise inclusion in the squad, and he brings the number to three of Polish born players in the German squad, along with the talents of Miroslav Klose and Podolski, much to the chagrin of Polish fans.

Klinsmann did keep one big name out of the squad, Liverpool's Champions League medal winning midfielder Dietmar Hamann, who underplayed during last week's 2-2 draw against in a friendly against the Netherlands, his first appearance under Klinsmann. The 31-year-old midfielder was heavily criticized in the German media for his performance.

"We know which qualities he has and we won't be influenced by the negative comments about him,'' Klinsmann said, adding that he "needs to find his rhythm'' with his club.

Chelsea's Robert Huth has been relegated to the under 21 squad, which he has captained before.

Goalkeepers: Timo Hildebrand (Stuttgart), Jens Lehmann (Arsenal).

Defenders: Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Andreas Hinkel (Stuttgart), Marcell Jansen (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Per Mertesacker (Hannover 96), Patrick Owomoyela (Werder Bremen), Lukas Sinkiewicz (FC Cologne), Christian Woerns (Borussia Dortmund).

Midfielders: Michael Ballack (Bayern Munich), Sebastian Diesler (Bayern Munich), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen), Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen), Fabian Ernst (Schalke), Thomas Hitzlsperger (Stuttgart), Bernd Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen).

Forwards: Gerald Asamoah (Schalke), Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke), Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen), Lukas Podolski (FC Cologne).

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