Schweinsteiger - has given up caring about his hair so much and now concentrates on being the most important german on the pitch

It seems that Joachim Loew’s Germany squad cannot get any lower after another possibly key player limped out of the World Cup squad for South Africa this week.

Replacing Chelsea’s Michael Ballack who limped out of the FA Cup final after a challenge from Portsmouth’s Kevin-Prince Boateng has proved a tricky affair.

The latest candidate, 22-year-old Stuttgart midfielder, Christian Traesch, who has had a strong finish to the season, limped out of a friendly at the squad’s training camp in Italy on Monday afternoon.

This leaves Loew looking towards a player who would have been an unlikely role model a season ago. Bayern Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger has had a reputation as a dandy man for much of his career – more interested in his hairstyle than the type of football that he plays, Franz Beckenbauer once famously said – but he has knuckled down with the added responsibility that he has been handed at Bayern this season. Louis Van Gaal has brought him in from the wing and he become an integral part of the Bavarian side’s march to the Champions League final this past season.

Outside of the much publicised problems replacing Ballack, coach Loew is finding a number of positions where he is having to compromise for lack of first-choice players.

In goal, Germany must enter a tournament without an experienced goalkeeper for the first time in a generation – thanks to the retirement of Oliver Kahn and the ageing and increasing eccentricity of Jens Lehman. When told he would not be going to the World Cup a fortnight ago, the former Arsenal stopper promptly retired.

What they will have is Manuel Neuer of Schalke who is coach Joachim Low’s second choice behind Rene Adler, the highly-regarded stopper from Bayer Leverkusen, who has been forced to have surgery for a rib injury. Loew finds himself woefully short of cover for Neuer: he has had to recall Hans-Jorg Butt, who has been an understudy – at Bayern Munich and then Benfica – for the vast majority of his career.

And in defence, despite having their one player of class and experience in Philipp Lahm, widely regarded as one of the best full backs in the world, Germany look surprisingly fragile. Lahm is guaranteed to be named captain in Ballack’s absence, but he is part of a German defence lacking in any continuity, with only the Werder Bremen central defender Per Mertesacker the only guaranteed starter in a back five with scant stability.

Loew has included two debutants in his provisional squad, in Hamburg defender Dennis Aogo and Bayern Munich youngster Holger Badstuber, as he searches to a solution to this rare problem for Germany.

But Germany’s real problems lie in a strike force that has been firing blanks for the entire 2009/10 season – and doesn’t look like scoring any time soon. The two men – Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski – who got Germany to the tournament with 13 goals between them in qualifying from a very friendly group, have scored just three goals in their respective club seasons.

And Klose is no longer playing regular first team football after being dropped from Bayern Munich earlier in the season.

Loew may increasingly lean on the abilities of Cacau, who had an excellent season for Stuttgart, up front as the tournament progresses because Mario Gomez, Stefan Kiessling and Thomas Muller are only bit part players.

This lack of a clear direction must be resolved before the first match, in which Germany must face an Australian side that look capable of winning the group. If not the four times World champions could find themselves playing off against an African side (Ghana) in front of a largely African 91,000 crowd in Johannesburg for a place in the second phase.

Germany squad (25 to be trimmed to 23 by June 1):

Goalkeepers: Hans-Jorg Butt (Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Schalke 04), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen)

Defenders: Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Heiko Westermann (Schalke 04), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Jerome Boateng (Hamburg), Andreas Beck (Hoffenheim), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Serdar Tasci (Stuttgart), Marcell Jansen (Hamburg), Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich), Dennis Aogo (Hamburg).

Midfielders: Sami Khedira (Stuggart), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg), Marko Marin (Werder Bremen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Werder Bremen), Toni Kroos (Bayer Leverkusen).

Forwards: Lukas Podolski (Cologne), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen), Cacau (Stuttgart), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich).

It seems that Joachim Loew’s Germany squad cannot get any lower after another possibly key player limped out of the World Cup squad for South Africa this week.
Replacing Chelsea’s Michael Ballack who limped out of the FA Cup final after a challenge from Portsmouth’s Kevin-Prince Boateng has proved a tricky affair. The latest candidate, 22-year-old Stuttgart midfielder, Christian Traesch, who has had a strong finish to the season, limped out of a friendly at the squad’s training camp in Italy on Monday afternoon.
This leaves Loew looking towards a player who would have been an unlikely role model a season ago. Bayern Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger has had a reputation as a dandy man for much of his career – more interested in his hairstyle than the type of football that he plays, Franz Beckenbauer once famously said – but he has knuckled down with the added responsibility that he has been handed at Bayern this season. Louis Van Gaal has brought him in from the wing and he become an integral part of the Bavarian side’s march to the Champions League final this past season.
Outside of the much publicised problems replacing Ballack, coach Loew is finding a number of positions where he is having to compromise for lack of first-choice players.
In goal, Germany must enter a tournament without an experienced goalkeeper for the first time in a generation – thanks to the retirement of Olver Kahn and the ageing and increasing eccentricity of Jens Lehman. When told he would not be going to the World Cup a fortnight ago, the former Arsenal stopper promptly retired. What they will have is Manuel Neuer of Schalke who iscoach Joachim Low’s second choice behind Rene Adler, the highly-regarded stopper from Bayer Leverkusen, who has been forced to have surgery for a rib injury. Loew finds himself woefully short of cover for Neuer: he has had to recall Hans-Jorg Butt, who has been an understudy – at Bayern Munich and then Benfica – for the vast majority of his career.
And in defence, despite having their one player of class and experience in Philipp Lahm, widely regarded as one of the best full backs in the world, Germany look surprisingly fragile. Lahm is guaranteed to be named captain in Ballack’s absence, but he is part of a German defence lacking in any continuity, with only the Werder Bremen central defender Per Mertesacker the only guaranteed starter in a back five with scant stability. Loew has included two debutants in his provisional squad, in Hamburg defender Dennis Aogo and Bayern Munich youngster Holger Badstuber, as he searches to a solution to this rare problem for Germany.
But Germany’s real problems lie in a strike force that has been firing blanks for the entire 2009/10 season – and doesn’t look like scoring any time soon. The two men – Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski – who got Germany to the tournament with 13 goals between them in qualifying from a very friendly group, have scored just three goals in their respective club seasons. And Klose is no longer playing regular first team football after being dropped from Bayern Munich earlier in the season.
Loew may increasingly lean on the abilities of Cacau, who had an excellent season for Stuttgart, up front as the tournament progresses because Mario Gomez, Stefan Kiessling and Thomas Muller are only bit part players.
This lack of a clear direction must be resolved before the first match, in which Germany must face an Australian side that look capable of winning the group. If not the four times World champions could find themselves playing off against an African side (Ghana) in front of a largely African 91,000 crowd in Johannesburg for a place in the second phase.

Germany squad (25 to be trimmed to 23 by June 1):
Goalkeepers: Hans-Jorg Butt (Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Schalke 04), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen)
Defenders: Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Heiko Westermann (Schalke 04), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Jerome Boateng (Hamburg), Andreas Beck (Hoffenheim), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Serdar Tasci (Stuttgart), Marcell Jansen (Hamburg), Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich), Dennis Aogo (Hamburg).
Midfielders: Sami Khedira (Stuggart), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg), Marko Marin (Werder Bremen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Werder Bremen), Toni Kroos (Bayer Leverkusen).
Forwards: Lukas Podolski (Cologne), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen), Cacau (Stuttgart), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich).