Germany coach Joachim Löw has called up 18 members of his World Cup winning squad for his side’s upcoming fixtures next month. Germany face Argentina in a friendly on 3 September (live on ZDF from 20:45) in a rematch of the World Cup final, before playing Scotland in Dortmund on 7 September (live on RTL from 20:45) to kick-off their qualifying campaign for the 2016 European Championship in France. Absent from the 23-man party that triumphed in Brazil are long-serving Philipp Lahm, Miroslav Klose and Per Mertesacker, who all announced their international retirement in recent weeks and declined to feature against Argentina.
However, the trio will travel to Düsseldorf on Wednesday at the invitation of DFB President Wolfgang Niersbach, and will be honoured and bid farewell by the DFB. The same goes for Hansi Flick, who is leaving his role as Löw’s assistant to take on the position of DFB Director of Sport. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Shkodran Mustafi will likewise be in Düsseldorf, although they will play no part in the match. Schweinsteiger is currently recovering from a knee injury, while Mustafi has only just started training with his new team FC Valencia and has been authorised by Löw to return to the club to continue preparations after the Argentina match.
Gomez, Reus and Rüdiger return
Back in the national team set-up are Mario Gomez, Antonio Rüdiger and Marco Reus, who was ruled out of the World Cup after picking up an injury shortly before the tournament in a friendly against Armenia. They form part of a 21-man squad which includes three goalkeepers. Of the non-World Cup winning members of the party Löw said: "I’m absolutely delighted for Marco Reus that he’s back and has recovered from injury. We missed him in Brazil. I’m sure he’ll play a starring role in a few more major tournaments. With Mario Gomez I know how unbelievably hard and disciplined he’s been working. He was determined to return to the national team and thoroughly deserves his call-up. When he’s fit he has the quality to strengthen our attack. Antonio Rüdiger was with us for the game against Poland and he made a good impression on me. He’s a good option to have at the back."
"It’s challenging and exciting to face Argentina again at home," said Löw of the forthcoming encounter. "I hugely respect them and they’ll come to Germany very motivated and will give us a good game. We’re at the start of a new season so in sporting terms it’s a welcome acid test that will allow us to compete at the highest level again right away."
End of an era
The game against the World Cup runners-up also serves to mark the end of an era and the beginning of a new one: the triumph in Brazil is history and new objectives are now in sight. "We’re really happy that our entire group of players, coaches, staff and the DFB delegation will be together in Düsseldorf," said Löw. "It’s the team we prepared for the World Cup with and the team we had throughout the tournament in Brazil. In a way the next few days will constitute a period of final closure after the World Cup in Brazil before we turn our attentions to our new targets."
Four days after the meeting with Argentina, Germany start their EURO 2016 qualifying campaign having been drawn in a group alongside Georgia, Gibraltar, Ireland, Poland and Scotland. Of the game against Scotland Löw said: "We won the World Cup but that’s in the past. We’ve set ourselves new aims for the present and for the future. We want to integrate new players into the side and the door to the national team is open. We have a lot of interesting options. Our objective is clear: we don’t want to have to wait such a long time before winning the next trophy. We want to go on the front foot at EURO 2016 and compete for the title. But first we need to qualify so a good start is imperative. Of course we have to be aiming to pick up three points at home to Scotland but we won’t underestimate them. Scotland play with passion and a lot of heart, they’ll give it everything and will fight as hard as they can."
Germany coach Joachim Löw has called up 18 members of his World Cup winning squad for his side’s upcoming fixtures next month. Germany face Argentina in a friendly on 3 September (live on ZDF from 20:45) in a rematch of the World Cup final, before playing Scotland in Dortmund on 7 September (live on RTL from 20:45) to kick-off their qualifying campaign for the 2016 European Championship in France. Absent from the 23-man party that triumphed in Brazil are long-serving Philipp Lahm, Miroslav Klose and Per Mertesacker, who all announced their international retirement in recent weeks and declined to feature against Argentina.
However, the trio will travel to Düsseldorf on Wednesday at the invitation of DFB President Wolfgang Niersbach, and will be honoured and bid farewell by the DFB. The same goes for Hansi Flick, who is leaving his role as Löw’s assistant to take on the position of DFB Director of Sport. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Shkodran Mustafi will likewise be in Düsseldorf, although they will play no part in the match. Schweinsteiger is currently recovering from a knee injury, while Mustafi has only just started training with his new team FC Valencia and has been authorised by Löw to return to the club to continue preparations after the Argentina match.
Gomez, Reus and Rüdiger return
Back in the national team set-up are Mario Gomez, Antonio Rüdiger and Marco Reus, who was ruled out of the World Cup after picking up an injury shortly before the tournament in a friendly against Armenia. They form part of a 21-man squad which includes three goalkeepers. Of the non-World Cup winning members of the party Löw said: "I’m absolutely delighted for Marco Reus that he’s back and has recovered from injury. We missed him in Brazil. I’m sure he’ll play a starring role in a few more major tournaments. With Mario Gomez I know how unbelievably hard and disciplined he’s been working. He was determined to return to the national team and thoroughly deserves his call-up. When he’s fit he has the quality to strengthen our attack. Antonio Rüdiger was with us for the game against Poland and he made a good impression on me. He’s a good option to have at the back."
"It’s challenging and exciting to face Argentina again at home," said Löw of the forthcoming encounter. "I hugely respect them and they’ll come to Germany very motivated and will give us a good game. We’re at the start of a new season so in sporting terms it’s a welcome acid test that will allow us to compete at the highest level again right away."
End of an era
The game against the World Cup runners-up also serves to mark the end of an era and the beginning of a new one: the triumph in Brazil is history and new objectives are now in sight. "We’re really happy that our entire group of players, coaches, staff and the DFB delegation will be together in Düsseldorf," said Löw. "It’s the team we prepared for the World Cup with and the team we had throughout the tournament in Brazil. In a way the next few days will constitute a period of final closure after the World Cup in Brazil before we turn our attentions to our new targets."
Four days after the meeting with Argentina, Germany start their EURO 2016 qualifying campaign having been drawn in a group alongside Georgia, Gibraltar, Ireland, Poland and Scotland. Of the game against Scotland Löw said: "We won the World Cup but that’s in the past. We’ve set ourselves new aims for the present and for the future. We want to integrate new players into the side and the door to the national team is open. We have a lot of interesting options. Our objective is clear: we don’t want to have to wait such a long time before winning the next trophy. We want to go on the front foot at EURO 2016 and compete for the title. But first we need to qualify so a good start is imperative. Of course we have to be aiming to pick up three points at home to Scotland but we won’t underestimate them. Scotland play with passion and a lot of heart, they’ll give it everything and will fight as hard as they can."
Final fixture in 2014 against Spain
Following the matches against Argentina and Scotland, Germany only have four remaining fixtures this calendar year. They will play EURO 2016 qualifying matches on 11 October in Warsaw against Poland, on 14 October in Gelsenkirchen against Ireland and on 14 November in Nuremberg against Gibraltar. The year will be rounded off with a friendly match on 18 November away to dethroned world champions Spain in Vigo.
