Reus makes Germany squad, Ballack still missing

By foxsports
Published

Borussia Moenchengladbach midfielder Marco Reus is the only uncapped player in Germany's squad for a friendly against Uruguay and qualifiers versus Austria and Azerbaijan for the 2012 European Championship.

Germany coach Joachim Loew announced the 23-man squad on Thursday, leaving out Michael Ballack as expected and including Leverkusen midfielder Simon Rolfes and injured Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira.

The 21-year-old Reus has been called up twice before but had to drop out each time due to injury.

''Marco has made interesting progress and is a prospect for the future,'' Loew said. ''He has played very well in the Bundesliga the past few weeks when he was also very dangerous in front of goal.''

Stuttgart defender Christian Traesch is back in the squad after injuries kept Per Mertesacker and Jerome Boateng out.

Loew said the 29-year-old Rolfes - who has 21 caps for Germany - had earned a recall after a long injury layoff.

''We never wrote him off,'' Loew said. ''He has worked real hard this year.''

Loew added that he was in regular contact with Ballack and had informed him of his decision to leave him out again.

There was also no recall for six players from the squad that finished third at the World Cup - Marko Marin, Cacau, Serdar Tasci, Piotr Trochowski, Marcell Jansen and Stefan Kiessling.

Loew again selected only two strikers, Bayern Munich teammates Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose. Gomez leads the Bundesliga with 27 goals.

Midfielders Lukas Podolski of Cologne and Andre Schuerrle of Mainz can also play up front.

Germany hosts Uruguay on May 29 before taking on Austria in Vienna on June 3. The match against Azerbaijan takes place in Baku on June 7.

Loew's team leads Group A of qualifying for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine with five wins from five games.

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Germany:

Goalkeepers: Rene Adler (Bayer Leverkusen), Manuel Neuer (Schalke), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen).

Defenders: Dennis Aogo (Hamburger SV), Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich), Arne Friedrich (Wolfsburg), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Marcel Schmelzer (Borussia Dortmund), Christian Traesch (Stuttgart).

Midfielders: Sven Bender (Borussia Dortmund), Mario Goetze (Borussia Dortmund), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich), Mesut Oezil (Real Madrid), Lukas Podolski (Cologne), Marco Reus (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), Andre Schuerrle (Mainz), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich).

Forwards: Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich).