Posted on May 07
Germany coach Joachim Loew on Monday named uncapped teenage midfielder Julian Draxler and goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen in his provisional squad for Euro 2012.
The pair -- Draxler, 18, from Schalke and 20-year-old Borussia Moenchengladbach shot-stopper ter Stegen -- were the two surprises in Loew's initial 27-man squad for the European Championship to be hosted by Poland and the Ukraine.
Loew has named four goalkeepers and 13 midfielders in his provisional group but must cut four names by May 29 before taking a 23-man squad to Euro 2012, which kicks off on June 8 and concludes with the final in Kiev on July 1.
Draxler only broke into the Schalke first-team last season, but has already impressed Loew.
"He has enormous potential. We think he will develop and are convinced that he can help us, despite his young age," explained Loew when asked why he had picked Draxler.
"He can already read a match well and has great game intelligence. He is very fast and is a strong dribbler -- that is why we are taking him."
With just one appearance for Germany, another surprise is the call-up of midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, one of five players from German champions Borussia Dortmund, while eight Bayern Munich players have been selected.
Twins Lars and Sven Bender, of Bayer Leverkusen and Dortmund respectively, have both been included.
With Dortmund and Bayern both in Saturday's German Cup final in Berlin, Loew will take the bulk of his squad to a training camp in Sardinia on Friday before the second camp in the south of France begins on May 19.
Bayern's stars will join up with the Germany squad after the Champions League final in Munich against Chelsea the same day.
"That's not easy for us and we hope that our players don't pick up any injuries," admitted Loew.
Aside from ter Stegen, the other goalkeepers are Werder Bremen's Tim Wiese and Hanover's Ron-Robert Zieler, as well as first-choice number one Manuel Neuer of Bayern.
"We calculated that Manuel Neuer would miss the majority of our preparations and we wanted to have three goalkeepers for that period," explained Loew.
"Ter Stegen has had an outstanding season and has performed well, despite being so young. The final decision on who goes will come on May 29."
Loew lost his first-choice goalkeeper Rene Adler with broken ribs shortly before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and in his absence, Neuer rose to make Germany's number one shirt his own.
Germany have two Euro 2012 warm-up games: against Switzerland in Basel on May 26 and Israel in Leipzig on May 31.
Loew's side were drawn in Group B at Euro 2012, alongside Portugal, the Netherlands and Denmark.
They face Portugal in Lviv on June 9, tackle the Dutch in Kharkiv on May 13, and conclude the group phase against Denmark in Kharkiv on May 17.
Germany squad
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hanover 96)
Defenders: Jerome Boateng, Holger Badstuber, Philipp Lahm (all Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Arsenal/ENG), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Benedikt Hoewedes (Schalke 04), Marcel Schmelzer (Borussia Dortmund)
Midfielders: Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira (both Real Madrid/ESP), Toni Kroos, Thomas Mueller, Bastian Schweinsteiger (all Bayern Munich), Marco Reus (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Mario Goetze, Ilkay Gundogan, Sven Bender (all Borussia Dortmund), Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkusen), Andre Schuerrle (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Schalke 04), Lukas Podolski (Cologne)
Forwards: Cacau (VfB Stuttgart), Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich), Miroslav Klose (Lazio/ITA)
Schalke's Julian Draxler (left) and Dortmund's Ilkay Guendogan clash in a Bundesliga match in Gelsenkirchen last month. Germany coach Joachim Loew has named uncapped teenage midfielder Draxler in his provisional squad for Euro 2012.
Schalke's Julian Draxler (left) and Dortmund's Ilkay Guendogan clash in a Bundesliga match in Gelsenkirchen last month. Germany coach Joachim Loew has named uncapped teenage midfielder Draxler in his provisional squad for Euro 2012.