Joachim Loew announces Germany squad

Berlin, Feb 2 (IANS): Germany head coach Joachim Loew has announced the 23-man squad for the upcoming friendly against France.

Except the comeback of Mario Gomez and goalkeeper Rene Adler, the rest of the squad is composed of familiar faces, as Loew puts trust into proven personnel, reports Xinhua.

Loew called up Gomez, who has been sidelined for three months due to an ankle injury, for the friendly against “les Bleus” in Paris Wednesday.

“Mario Gomez is in a good physical state after he recovered from his long term injury,” Loew said.

The 27-year-old striker returns into the “Nationalmannschaft” for the first time since the European championship’s semifinal loss to Italy in June 2012.

It is at least a positive sign for the 57-time German international who has lost his starting position at Bayern Munich to teammate Mario Mandzuckic.

Another returnee will be Hamburg’s goalkeeper Rene Adler, who turns up between the posts after 27 months of absence, following a clean sheet against Sweden in November 2010.

“Rene Adler has had a very good Bundesliga season so far. He deserved a chance as he was already part of the team for the Netherlands friendly last year in November,” Loew stated.

Nonetheless, Bayern’s Manuel Neuer will be the starting goalkeeper at the World Cup qualifiers, as “he is the undisputed number one,” Loew added.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Rene Adler (Hamburger)

Defenders: Philipp Lahm, Jerome Boateng (both Bayern Munich), Mats Hummels, Marcel Schmelzer (both Borussia Dortmund), Benedikt Hoewedes (Schalke), Per Mertesacker (Arsenal), Heiko Westermann (Hamburg)

Midfielders: Lars Bender, Andre Schuerrle (both Bayer Leverkusen), Mario Goetze, Ilkay Guendogan, Marco Reus (all Borussia Dortmund), Julian Draxler (Schalke), Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos, Bastian Schweinsteiger (all Bayern Munich), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal), Sami Khedira, Mesut Oezil (both Real Madrid)

Strikers: Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich), Miroslav Klose (Lazio)