German national player Lukas Podolski playing for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga has suffered an ankle injury and will be out for at least three weeks. The striker, named best young player of the 2006 World Cup in Germany this summer, will probably miss the Euro 2008 qualifier against Cyprus on November 15.
The 21-year-old was injured in a clash with Dutch midfielder Mark van Bommel during training for Bayern Munich on Friday. He missed Bayern Munich's game against Eintracht Frankfurt this Saturday and will also not be able to take part in the Champions League Group B match of Bayern München against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.
"This is bitter news for Lukas," Bayern coach Felix Magath said in a statement on Friday. "It's a real shame for him to be missing when we have so many games."
Germany coach Joachim Löw picked out 21-year-old Lukas Podolski for special praise after the striker scored twice in Germany's 4-1 thrashing of Slovakia on Wednesday. The victory extended Loew's unbeaten streak to five matches since he took over from Juergen Klinsmann after the World Cup, and put Germany in a strong position in their Euro 2008 qualifying Group D where they sit second behind the Czech Republic, with one game in hand.
Podolski's brace in Bratislava took his international tally to 22 in 37 matches and silenced the critics who had lambasted him for an uneccesary red card in a friendly against Georgia on Saturday. 'Lukas is a jewel,' Löw remarked. 'It's enormous what he has accomplished so far at the age of 21. It's the responsibility of all of us in the team to take care of him.'
Podolski was criticised by his Bayern Munich coach Felix Magath last week for 'smiling too much' when he sits on the bench and Germany captain Michael Ballack also said in a newspaper interview that Podolski needed to keep working to improve and should not become complacent. 'I'm not having any crisis, I'm not worried about anything,' Podolski said after the Slovakia victory. 'Every day's a dream for me. I enjoy life and I enjoy football. What others say doesn't mean a damn thing.'
Ballack praised Podolski's performance against Slovakia: 'A good player delivers answers to his critics on the pitch. He didn't let anyone disturb him and kept his cool. But he must keep it up.'
Germany, who finished third at the World Cup, are having their best run in years with only one loss - to Italy in the semi-final - in the last 16 matches they played. Löw said he was extremely happy with the way his side is performing. 'We took a big step forward with the victory in Slovakia,' Löw said. 'It was important to beat a team in our group that will probably play an important role in which teams ultimate qualify for the European finals. Our performance in the first half was very, very good. The defence and midfield were excellent, winning balls back from Slovakia and quickly playing them forward.'
Germany face Cyprus in their next Euro 2008 qualifying match on November 15 in Nicosia.
The shortlist of the FIFA World Player of the Year award has been released.
Michael Ballack, Miroslav Klose, Philippe Lahm and Jens Lehmann are the 4 German players nominated for this year's prize which will be awarded in Zurich on December 18. Ballack and Lehmann play in the English Premier League for Chelsea and Arsenal while Klose and Lahm ply their trade in the German Bundesliga for Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich respectively.
However, this year's competition is expected to come down to a contest between Fabio Cannavaro, captain of World Cup winners Italy, and Arsenal's French striker Thierry Henry, a losing finalist in both the Champions League and the World Cup.
The head coaches and captains of all national teams will now vote for their best players from the shortlist.
FIFA World Player of the Year shortlist:
Adriano (Inter Milan, Brazil), Michael Ballack (Chelsea, Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus, Italy), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid, Italy), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal), Petr Cech (Chelsea, Czech Republic), Deco (Barcelona, Portugal), Didier Drogba (Chelsea, Ivory Coast), Michael Essien (Chelsea, Ghana), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona, Cameroon), Luis Figo (Inter Milan, Portugal), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan, Italy), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, England), Thierry Henry (Arsenal, France), Kaka (AC Milan, Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen, Germany), Philippe Lahm (Bayern Munich, Germany), Frank Lampard (Chelsea, England), Jens Lehmann (Arsenal, Germany), Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan, Italy), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan, Italy), Franck Ribery (Marseille, France), Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal, Argentina), Ronaldinho (Barcelona, Brazil), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, England), Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal, Czech Republic), Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea, Ukraine), Lilian Thuram (Barcelona, France), Patrick Vieira (Inter Milan, France), Zinedine Zidane (retired, France).
Lukas Podolski grabbed a brace as Germany continued their perfect start to the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with a resounding 4-1 win over Slovakia in Bratislava on Wednesday.
Slovakia had beaten Wales 5-1 in their previous qualifier 4 days ago but the Germans steamrolled them by scoring twice in the first 25 minutes, silencing the home crowd as they strolled to an easy victory. Germany, thus, have the maximum nine points and lie second in the group behind the Czech Republic, who were held to a 1-1 draw by the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday, having played one game less.
The visitors attacked at will throughout the match on their way to making it three wins out of three in the campaign. 21-year-old Podolski opened the scoring on 13 minutes. Miroslav Klose set up the goal after sprinting down the right side past three Slovak players before playing the ball back to his unmarked strike partner. Klose was one of four regulars rested by coach Löw against Georgia last Saturday and their freshness showed in an energetic opening.
Germany captain Michael Ballack doubled the lead on 25 minutes, meeting Philipp Lahm's left-wing cross into the penalty box with a diving header. Bastian Schweinsteiger added a third to stretch the lead even further in the 36th minute when Slovak goalkeeper Kamil Contofalsky could not hold Ballack's shot. Schweinsteiger drove home the rebound cementing a game that was never in doubt for the visitors.
"A lot of experts said it would be difficult to keep this good run up after the World Cup. We've proven in the last five matches we were able to do just that. We played a super match and deserved to win 4-1," said Podolski after the game. "I've said all along it doesn't interest me at all what happens off the pitch. What's important is what happens on the pitch. The rest doesn't mean a thing."
Slovakia, who had also thrashed Cyprus 6-1, looked devoid of ideas and midfielder Marek Mintal, top-scorer of the Bundesliga in 2005 playing for 1. FC Nürnberg, was starved of service. The hosts did not have any meaningful opening until the start of the second half when Robert Vittek fired over the crossbar from an acute angle.
However, defender Stanislav Varga pulled one back for Slovakia on 58 minutes with a header to spoil keeper Jens Lehmann's shutout. It was the first goal Germany had conceded under new manager Joachim Löw.
Podolski continued his good run when he struck again in the 71st minute to seal the win, rolling the ball into an open goal as Klose once again provided, after the duo sprung the offside trap.
"We had a very good first half. We controlled the match and were able to make our mark. It was a joy to watch the way the energy was flowing. We proved that we can stand up to a strong opponent away as well," remarked Germany coach Joachim Löw. "It was difficult to keep up that high level in the second half. We were a bit careless but what was good was the way we reacted after they scored their goal. We bounced right back and got a fourth."
Löw, who took over from Klinsmann after the World Cup, has won his first five matches in charge and hopes to make it six in the next qualifier against Cyprus on November 15.
With the Euro 2008 qualifier coming up on Wednesday in Bratislava against hosts Slovakia, the German national team faces their stiffest test yet in the era of new national team coach Joachim Löw. The most serious threat from the Sloakia team comes from the two players Marek Mintal and Robert Vittek, who both currently play in the German Bundesliga. This will be the highest hurdle for the German defence yet unbeaten after the World Cup in the matches. The last four games have not seen the defence concede any goals against Sweden (3-0), Ireland (1-0), San Marino (13-0) and Georgia (2-0).
There are a few minor injury concerns to players in the team. Bastian Schweinsteiger has a earache and a few other players are suffering from slight influenza infections but the medical staff is optimistic that all internationals will be fit on time. Striker Oliver Neuville has also overcomed problems with his achilles tendon and has returned to training on Monday.
Probable teams:
Slovakia: Kamil Contofalsky; Radoslav Zabavnik, Martin Skrtel, Jan Durica, Marek Cech; Marek Mintal, Miroslav Karhan, Peter Hlinka, Dusan Svento; Filip Sebo, Szilard Nemeth
Germany: Jens Lehmann; Philipp Lahm, Arne Friedrich, Manuel Friedrich, Thomas Hitzlsperger; Bastian Schweinsteiger, Michael Ballack, Torsten Frings, Bernd Scheider; Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski.
Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway)
Former Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann has received 'serious' offers to coach fir Mexico and the United States of America, a Klinsmann adviser revealed. Roland Eitel told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag that it was still unclear whether Klinsmann, who led an unfancied Germany team to third place, would decide to return to the sidelines.
'Juergen has enough work to do right now,' Eitel said, noting that he had two years worth of work to catch up on at his California firm Soccer Solutions. Eitel said Klinsmann is also analysing the training and match data that he gathered from his two years as the head coach of Germany.
Eitel said Klinsmann had received coaching offers from Mexico and the United States. 'And they're all serious,' he said. But when asked if Klinsmann would take up any of the jobs on offer, Eitel said: 'We'll have to wait and see.' Klinsmann had said after the World Cup that he planned to take a six-months break before making any further plans for his future.
Mexico coach Ricardo La Volpe left after his contract ended when they lost 2-1 to Argentina in the second round of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. La Volpe moved over to coach Boca Juniors, the most popular club in his native Argentina.
Bruce Arena's contract with the US national team was not renewed after the Americans were knocked out of the World Cup at the group stages. The president of U.S. Soccer, Sunil Gulati, has identified Klinsmann as a top choice to replace Bruce.
New coach Joachim Löw has helped the Germans quickly forget the sudden departure of Juergen Klinsmann after the recent World Cup with the best start any coach has had in the country's history. Germany's 2-0 victory against Georgia on Saturday was their fourth straight win under Löw, who succeeded Klinsmann after the World Cup finals where the hosts finished third.
'What makes me happy is that in these last four matches we've shown that we were not only able to play well at the tournament but also kept going strong right after that,' Löw said after winning a friendly match against Georgia at Rostock. Germany have won four straight matches and outscored opponents 19-0 since Löw took over.
'We're still playing attacking football and are always able to score,' added Löw, Klinsmann's assistant for the last two years, staying in the shadow of the popular ex-German striker until he was promoted after the World Cup.
'It's very satisfying to me,' said Löw, who had only a modest playing career but has now entered German Football Association records with the most successful start as a national coach ever. Loew is only the 10th coach Germany has had since 1923 but is the 4th new coach in the past 8 years. 'We're going to make mistakes,' he added. 'But the great start after the World Cup shows we have first-rate players.'
Germany have played all but two of their 16 matches in 2006 at home and Loew will hope that their strong run can continue on the road when they travel to Bratislava for a Euro qualifier on Wednesday against Group D rivals Slovakia. Slovakia, who beat Germany 2-0 in Bratislava 13 months ago, crushed Wales 5-1 on Saturday.
Löw was clearly more concerned about Slovakia than Georgia. He rested several regulars: Miroslav Klose, Philipp Lahm, Bernd Schneider, Torsten Frings and goalkeeper Jens Lehmann. Defenders Per Mertesacker and Christoph Metzelder were out due to injuries.
'We used a lot of young players and they performed well,' said Loew, who started newcomers Piotr Trochowski of Hamburg SV and Werder Bremen's Clemens Fritz. Trochowski was especially impressive in midfield, constantly causing problems for Georgia's defence. 'Trochowski had an enormous match and really made his mark,' said Löw of the 22-year-old.
Germany warmed up for Wednesday's Euro 2008 qualifier against Slovakia with a 2-0 friendly win over Georgia in Rostock on Saturday. A long-range shot from Bastian Schweinsteiger on 24 minutes and a 67th minute goal from captain Michael Ballack secured victory for Germany who now travel to Bratislava with confidence.
"We played with passion and lots of effort but the team had a lot of changes tonight and we naturally made a number of mistakes," said Germany coach Joachim Löw. "But the win is important and we now go into the Slovakia match full of confidence."
Schweinsteiger fired home a shot from 25 metres in the 24th minute after being set up by Ballack and he duly returned the favour in the second half at the Ostseestadion, finding his captain open on the left side of goal for a 22-metre shot in the 67th.
Bayern Munich marksman Lukas Podolski was sent off on 48 minutes for vicious dead ball kick against Georgia defender Zurab Khizanishvili but will not be suspended for the Slovakia game as this match was a friendly.
The Germans controlled Georgia most of the match but were plagued at times by sloppy defence and were lucky that two Georgia goals were disallowed for offside.
Löw rested several key players in anticipation for the upcoming qualifier against Slovakia, such as World Cup golden boot hero Mirsolav Klose, Philipp Lahm, Bernd Schneider and Torsten Frings. Werder Bremen defender Clemens Fritz and SV Hamburg midfielder Piotr Trochowski both made their debuts in the starting line-up as Low tested out some fresh faces.
'We had to integrate a lot of younger players going into their first match and had some problems in coordination,' Löw added. 'We wanted to give some people a chance to show what they can do. We were a bit lucky that we kept a clean sheet.'
Germany have started their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign with a perfect two wins - a 1-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland and a 13-0 annihilation of San Marino - but should beware of Slovakia who thrashed Wales 5-1 on Saturday.
