Loew names much-changed Germany squad

Germany coach Joachim Loew has made several changes to his squad for Wednesday’s friendly against Paraguay.

A number of players from Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, who missed the tour of the United States in May because of the UEFA Champions League final, return to the squad.

Manuel Neuer, Mats Hummels, Philipp Lahm, Marcel Schmelzer, Sven Bender, Ilkay Gundogan, Thomas Mueller and Marco Reus all return, as does Fiorentina’s Mario Gomez, formerly of Bayern.

Loew’s side have been impressive in qualification for the 2014 World Cup and sit five points ahead of Austria in second place in their group, with the sides meeting on September 6.

Germany will be without Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mario Goetze and Toni Kroos for the friendly in Kaiserslautern, however, Loew is still positive going into the fixture against Gerardo Pelusso’s side.

“We go into this season with a lot of hope. The World Cup is right in front of us and this is the last stretch,” Loew said.

“The Paraguay game is not a warm-up exercise but a serious test against a South American team.

“I am happy that for the first time in five months we have many players with us again who are the foundation of this team.”

Loew thinks the fixture is very important ahead of their clash against Austria and wants Germany to progress to Brazil without suffering defeat.

“We have an outstanding position in our (World Cup qualifying) group and are on an approach flight to Brazil,” he said.

“In September we can take the decisive step. We want to win the group without losing a game.”

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer, Rene Adler

Defenders: Jerome Boateng, Benedikt Hoewedes, Mats Hummels, Marcell Jansen, Philipp Lahm Per Mertesacker, Marcel Schmelzer

Midfielders: Lars Bender, Sven Bender, Julian Draxler, Ilkay Gundogan, Sami Khedira, Thomas Mueller, Mesut Ozil, Lukas Podolski, Marco Reus, Andre Schuerrle

Forwards: Miroslav Klose, Mario Gomez