International Friendly Preview: Germany v Paraguay

Bayern Munich duo Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Goetze are key omissions from Germany’s squad to face Paraguay on Wednesday.

The midfield pair have been hampered by injuries, with Schweinsteiger struggling with an ankle complaint, while Goetze steps-up his recovery after a groin problem.

And manager Joachim Loew has decided not to risk their fitness for the fixture at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion.

Schalke’s 21-year-old midfielder Julian Draxler was in line to earn his seventh cap, but withdrew from the squad after injuring his Achilles tendon in the club’s 3-3 draw with Hamburg.

Loew has recalled nine players from Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund who were left out of the country’s two-match tour of the United States in June, after featuring in May’s UEFA Champions League final.

Among those brought back are Bayern defenders Jerome Boateng and Philipp Lahm, while Dortmund midfielders Sven Bender and Marco Reus are also named.

And Loew was pleased to welcome back some familiar faces as they warm up with Wednesday’s friendly ahead of vital FIFA World Cup qualifying fixtures in September and October.

“I am very pleased that for the first time in five months we have many of the players back who form the backbone of the team,” he said.

“It is important to start well to start in a season which will end for us with the World Cup in Brazil.”

Mario Gomez and Andre Schuerrle are both named in the squad, and Loew believes the pair will benefit from close-season moves to Fiorentina and Chelsea respectively.

“I’m sure both players will gain from their experiences abroad,” he continued. “You can see that Schuerrle is in good hands with Jose Mourinho from the progress Mesut Oezil and Sami Khedira made under him.”

An experimental Germany side lost their last fixture 4-3 against the United States in June.

But the three-time World Cup winners are in generally good shape, having gone on a nine-game unbeaten run previous to that defeat.

Paraguay manager Victor Genes has named a 21-man squad, including Barcelona’s 17-year-old striker Antonio Sanabria, who is a reported transfer target for Premier League side Arsenal.

Liga MX outfit Toluca are well represented, with Richard Ortiz, Pablo Velazquez and Edgar Benitez all included.

Paraguay lost their last two fixtures, both World Cup qualifiers, against Ecuador and Chile, and they sit bottom of the South American qualifying table with eight points from 12 games.