Low coy over selection

Germany coach Joachim Low talked up his team’s flexibility without giving away too much in regards to selection.

Shkodran Mustafi has been ruled out of the remainder of the FIFA World Cup and his thigh injury in Germany’s 2-1 extra-time win over Algeria led to captain Philipp Lahm being moved to right-back.

Lahm, who has played at full-back often, had been in defensive midfield prior to the injury but his move saw Sami Khedira introduced to play alongside Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Low, whose team face France in the quarter-finals on Friday, was unwilling to give too much away when asked if it was an option for the remainder of the tournament.

“Flexibility is one of our strengths. We used fresh players who helped the team, like Khedira and (Andre) Schurrle,” he told DFB.de.

“Now we’ve got to give the players one or two days of rest, then we’ll think about our options.

“My personal decisions will also depend on Schweinsteiger and Khedira’s fitness, as neither has been able to play a full 90 minutes yet.”

Low has been impressed by France’s improvement under Didier Deschamps and expects a tough encounter at the Estadio do Maracana.

“They’re a very strong side who have gone from strength to strength under Didier Deschamps,” he said.

“Our matches against France have always been particularly volatile but we’ll be as well prepared as ever.”