Stuttgart goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has hinted he may try to play at the World Cup in South Africa in two years' time.
The 39-year-old was widely expected to announce his retirement from international football after this summer's European Championships but he sees no reason why he cannot continue.
'I will discuss this issue in the near future with (Germany coach) Joachim Loew and to talk about it before then would be form, but I can live with the speculation,' said Lehmann, who moved to Stuttgart from Arsenal on a one-year contract this summer.
'Which player between the age of 18 and 40 can predict whether they will still be playing as well in two years anyway?
'I would even be prepared to (sit on the bench) at a World Cup. I would never say never.
'We will have to see what happens (after this year).'
Hamburg have rejected a six million euro offer from Real Madrid for Rafael van der Vaart, according to reports in Germany.
The Holland international has been constantly linked to Madrid throughout the summer, but Hamburg sporting director Dietmar Beiersdorfer dismissed the offer and told Die Welt that the Spanish champions' offer 'does not enter into discussion'.
However, Real are hoping to get the 25-year-old on the cheap as he has a clause in his contract allowing him to move for just one million euros next summer. His contract in Germany expires in 2010.
Reports in Spain have suggested that Van der Vaart has already agreed terms with Real, although the player told Die Welt 'that's not true'. If this bid is to be the opening salvo in Real's attempts to sign the Dutchman, matters could come to a head when the clubs meet in the Emirates Cup pre-season tournament in London.
Werder Bremen defender Per Mertesacker has undergone a successful operation on the knee injury he picked up at the club's training camp.
The Germany international is still likely to miss the start of the Bundesliga season however after he suffered the injury in training on Tuesday.
Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf revealed new signing Sebastian Prodl could take Mertesacker's place in the back four.
He told the club's official website: 'With him we have got ourselves an important man, who has enriched our team and made it stronger.
'He has demonstrated good commitment and a good attitude; he works hard and seems confident.'
Werder Bremen defender Per Mertesacker has suffered a serious knee injury that is set to rule him out of the beginning of the Bundesliga season.
Mertesacker damaged knee ligaments while training on Tuesday morning and left Werder's training facility on crutches.
'It didn't look good when it happened', Bremen captain Frank Baumann told the club's official website.
His fears were confirmed when doctors revealed that Mertesacker would undergo surgery on Wednesday, ruling him out of the first three to four weeks of the Bundesliga campaign.
Bayern Munich legend Lothar Matthaus believes there will be no stopping the German champions from notching up a 22nd Bundesliga title next season.
The Bavarians cruised to the crown last year under Ottmar Hitzfeld and, despite not spending a euro this summer, Matthaus feels Bayern have taken a further step forward under new coach Jurgen Klinsmann. 'On paper, it should be a stroll (for Bayern),' he told Eurosport. While Bayern have added just free-transfer signings Tim Borowski and Hans-Jorg Butt to their squad this summer, their rivals have been spending a little more money - particularly Schalke, who Matthaus tips to push them closer than last year.
'All of the opponents are going to be highly motivated against Bayern,' continued Matthaus - currently coach of Israeli team Maccabi Netanya, who are touring Germany during pre-season training. Bremen have a strong team, but I would reckon on Schalke, too, due to their transfers. Leverkusen have always got a strong squad, and then there are Hamburg and Wolfsburg who will be the six teams playing for places in the Champions League or UEFA Cup while you should not forget Stuttgart either. The Bundesliga is certainly not going to be boring.'
Matthaus also feels Bundesliga clubs will have a thing or two to say in Europe next season. Last year, Schalke reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League while Bayern made the last four in the UEFA Cup, but no German side has triumphed in Europe since Bayern lifted the Champions League in 2001. Both Stuttgart and Bremen crashed out of the Champions League in the group stage last year and no German representative has made the last four since Bayer Leverkusen lost the final in 2002.
That could be about to change, though, according to Matthaus. 'Bayern always managed to have a team which belongs to the favourites while the others have strengthened in a way that they can represent German football better than in recent years,' he said.
The German Football Association (DFB) have dismissed a report that appeared in the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper on Monday claiming they have been approached by UEFA to step in and co-host Euro 2012 with Poland.
According to the report, the 2006 World Cup hosts had been put on standby to rescue the tournament after planning for work on stadium upgrades in Ukraine fell behind schedule.
However, German FA (DFB) president Dr Theo Zwanziger is refusing to jump the gun ahead of a UEFA meeting in Bordeaux at the end of September.
'We are not getting involved in any imaginary games or speculation about the 2012 European Championships,' he told Tuesday's Bild newspaper.
'Should there be any difficulties, then UEFA president (Michel) Platini will make suggestions.'
After staging one of the most successful tournaments in recent years in 2006, Germany has already been tipped as a reserve host for the 2010 World Cup should South Africa have any problems, or suffer a natural disaster, that would prevent them from hosting the event.
The DFB have already distanced themselves from such reports with Zwanziger recently saying Germany is 'fundamentally not ready for the 2010 World Cup' and that they would be 'barking up the wrong tree' in trying to repeat the atmosphere of the 2006 World Cup so soon.
Bundesliga duo Diego and Rafinha are prepared to defy the wishes of their Bundesliga sides in order to represent Brazil in the Olympics. Werder Bremen and Schalke are in dispute with Diego, 23, and 22-year-old Rafinha respectively over the players' desire to travel with the Brazil Under-23 squad to the Games.
Read more about their current dispute.>>
It now seems certain that Lukas Podolski will be staying at Bayern Munich for the next season. Podolski admitted that he had problems settling down at Bayern but after a talk with coach Jurgen Klinsmann, it seems like the situation is improved and that Podolski has started concentrating on preparing for the new season ahead. Klinsmann has also stated repeatedly that he has no intention of selling the young striker.
The 23-year-old has been heavily linked with a move away from the German champions and back to former club Cologne this summer, but Bayern appear determined to hang on to their man.
'That (the sale of Podolski) does not come in any way into the question. We need at least three top strikers - and Lukas is one of the three,' said Klinsmann, before allaying Podolski's fears over a lack of first-team football. 'He has a duty to challenge the other two (Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni), to provide them with competition. Lukas will get his games.'
Having held 'positive' talks with Podolski, Klinsmann now intends to nurture the highly-rated forward. Klinsmann said: 'I told him what I told him before the European Championships: that he has a lot of talent, that he has already shown a lot in his young years, but also that he still has some more steps to take in order to become better. I would like and will help him with that.
Podolski, who scored his first goal of pre-season in Bayern's 11-1 friendly win over a supporters' club in Nabburg on Sunday, admits he has felt unsettled in Bavaria but now appears content at the thought of staying. Speaking to Bayern's official website, Podolski stated: 'I have not felt at home in Munich. With the birth of my son though that has got many times better. I will do my best in pre-season. I am concentrating now fully on the season. I am looking forward to it.'
The kick-off for the first international match of the National Team of the new season on August 20, 2008 in Nuremberg against Belgium will be at 9.00pm. The unusual timing of the game is due to the German Football Association's consideration of the Olympic Games in Beijing. Many medal-deciding games, for example athletics and swimming, will take place at Beijing on this day.
"ZDF television has asked us to accomodate it with this situation, so that other sports can be put into focus at prime time as well. We accepted this request. This late kick-off will nevertheless be an absolute exception", DFB General Secretary Wolfgang Niersbach explained: "It should not be forgotten, that our last tests before the EURO 2008 against Belarus and Serbia took place late afternoon.“
The kick-off-time of the first two World Cup qualifiers have been fixed as well. The match in Liechtenstein on September 6, 2008 will kick off at 8.45 pm. The game four days later in Helsinki against Finland has been set by the Finnish Football Association for 7.35 pm CEST.
Former Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn is convinced that new Bayern coach Jurgen Klinsmann can help the club make a 'big impression' at next season's Champions League.
With Klinsmann at the helm, the recently-retired custodian believes the Bavarian giants can make a real impact in Europe and overcome the disappointment of losing to Zenit St Petersburg in the UEFA Cup semi-finals last season.
'I trust Jurgen not only with the two title defences of the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal but also to a make a big impression in the Champions League,' Kahn told Munich-based newspaper Tz. 'I still know him from the year we had together at Bayern in 1995/96. He is very bright and will prepare Bayern very well. Certainly Klinsmann will be under pressure at Bayern, but that always exists there. It is only about titles, titles, titles. I think it is good that with Klinsmann there is someone with new ideas and other methods.'
Besides playing together with Klinsmann at Bayern Munich during the 95/96 season, Kahn was also under Klinsmann charge during his 2-year reign as the German national team coach. However, their time together in the national team was marked by the fierce rivalry between Kahn and Lehmann, with Klinsmann deciding to pick Lehmann as his number 1 in the end.
However, with all this in the past, Kahn seems to be happy to lend his support to the new coach of the club which he has spent a large part of his career at.
The president of the German Football Association has revealed Germany is not one of the countries on standby to host the 2010 World Cup should South Africa be unable to stage the event.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter recently claimed three countries were in line to step in should South Africa not be ready for the tournament in two years' time.
Fears over South Africa's preparations have arisen since it emerged the new stadium in Port Elizabeth had fallen behind schedule and would not be ready in time to stage Confederations Cup games next summer.
But German FA (DFB) chief Theo Zwanziger feels staging the World Cup for the second time in four years would be too much to ask for the 2006 hosts.
'Our country is fundamentally not ready to host the 2010 World Cup if the problems in South Africa are not resolved in time,' he told the German media.
'We would be barking up the wrong tree if we tried to repeat the fantastic summer fairytale of 2006.'
DFB spokesman Harald Stenger added: 'Mr Blatter has not yet contacted the DFB with regards to this and has not informed us of his intentions either.'
Manuel Neuer, among the most talented young goalkeepers in the Bundesliga, suffered a fractured metatarsal. The 22-year old Schalke 04 keeper was operated on his right foot on Wednesday.
Neuer has played eleven games for the German U 21 juniors, and has been named as a candidate to succeed national team keeper Jens Lehmann eventually. He broke the bone during Schalke’s 6:0 win in a test game against Spvgg Erkenschwick. Bernd Brexendorf, Schalke’s team doctor, said: 'If everything goes according to plan, he should be back playing in early September.'
Cologne coach Christoph Daum said he will not make a move for striker Lukas Podolski until Bayern Munich gives him the go-ahead. Podolski started his career with Cologne before moving to the Munich giants for 10 million euros in 2006, but he has struggled to establish himself as a first-team regular since his arrival. After the end of last season, he has admitted several times that his future may lie elsewhere.
Cologne are ready to take him in again, after he enjoyed an excellent Euro 2008 campaign with Germany, should Bayern wish to sell him, but they are determined to follow the rules. 'As long as there is no clear signal coming from Munich, we will respect the currently valid contracts,' said Daum. 'Munich wanted to sell Podolski to Stuttgart, but he did not want that and said instead 'If I am not required here anymore and they want to sell me, then only to Cologne', and we reacted to that. We spoke about it and said we would be ready for that to happen, but then the signal came from (Bayern chairman) Karl-Heinz Rummenigge that they did not want to sell him, and we respect that now. Since such a clear stance has been taken by Munich, then we have to abide by the rules.'
Daum also admitted Podolski's price tag could prove a stumbling block in a deal. 'I was extremely surprised (Bayern offered Podolski to Stuttgart) because I rate the player very highly,' he added. 'We are not able to spend 30million euros yet. But reality begins with a dream.'
Bayern Munich legend Lothar Matthaus has stated that he believes his old club should not stand in Lukas Podolski's way if he has made up his mind to leave. The striker is unhappy with his lack of first-team action with the German champions and has been strongly linked with a return to his former club Cologne. However, Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and coach Jurgen Klinsmann have stressed the 23-year-old will not be sold.
Read more about what Matthaus has to say about Podolski's future.>>
Left-back Philipp Lahm believes he is ready for the Bayern Munich captaincy.
New Bayern boss Jurgen Klinsmann is looking for a successor to Oliver Kahn, who retired at the end of last season, and the 24-year-old is reportedly the front-runner.
Lahm told the Bild newspaper: 'If I am offered the captain's armband, I would accept it.
'I feel ready for this task. The most important thing is that you are accepted by the team and also the board. And I feel it.
'Players already come to me to talk to me about football or other things in the club. I have the feeling that my opinion counts in the team.'
Should Lahm be named captain, it would cap a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the player who was criticised by club president Franz Beckenbauer for his performances last season and linked with a move away from the Allianz Arena.
New Bayern Munich boss Jurgen Klinsmann insists he will not rest until Lukas Podolski feels at home at the Allianz Arena. The Germany striker has been strongly linked with a move away from the Bundesliga champions after becoming unhappy at his lack of first-team football.
Former club Cologne were reported to be the 23-year-old's preferred destination, but Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge earlier this week stressed he would not be sold. And Klinsmann, under whom Podolski flourished in the national team, claims there is no way he would let such a talented player leave the club. The coach told Munich-based newspaper tz: 'I already said before the European Championship that I am absolutely building on Lukas.
'Lukas has so much potential, so much in him, that it has to still be further developed. That he suffers under the situation is absolutely understandable. It is up to me to give him a prospect of getting his games. I have told him: you are not allowed to run away from the situation now. The quality is so high - we are not going to let that get away.' Klinsmann has already revealed, though, he can not guarantee Podolski a starting place.
Podolski impressed in an unfamiliar left-sided role as Germany reached the final of Euro 2008, scoring three times to finish as his team's leading scorer in the tournament. But at Bayern last season he was restricted largely to substitute appearances, with then-coach Ottmar Hitzfeld favouring the pairing of Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni up front, with Frenchman Franck Ribery having sewn up the left midfield berth.
Juventus, Tottenham and Manchester City, as well as Cologne, are reported to be interested in the Polish-born forward, but Klinsmann is determined to make him feel wanted at Bayern. He added: 'I will give all my effort to making him feel happy. That he has a bit of home sickness (for Cologne) is surely only human. For all of us is it important to help these players. If Podolski at some time can not reach his potential for emotional reasons, one has to make provisions for that. That is our responsibility.'
Cologne boss Christoph Daum has made no secret of his desire to bring Podolski back to the club where he made his name. But the coach of the Bundesliga newcomers admits their pursuit of the forward now looks to be over. Daum told the Bild newspaper: 'We always wanted a clear statement (from Bayern), and now we have got one. (Cologne) manager Michael Meier also advised me so after his telephone conversation with Rummenigge. We respect contracts.'
More than 300,000 Germany fans welcomed their defeated team home on Monday at a colourful ceremony at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Monday, paying tribute to the runners-up of Euro 2008.
Waving black, red and gold German flags, crowds packed a fan mile in front of the Berlin landmark monument at the start of a public viewing area that stretched two kilometres west to the 'Victory Column'. Some 600,000 fans watched the finals of the Euro here.
'It's disappointing to go so far in the tournament, get to the final and then lose,' captain Michael Ballack told the big crowd after the team returned from Vienna. 'That's always bitter.' But Ballack, who has now lost in a total of 10 final matches in his club and international career, said that the team had felt the support from the huge crowds that filled public viewing venues across Germany all the way to their hotel in Switzerland.
'I don't think we'd have gone so far without these great fans,' Ballack said. 'We all saw the TV pictures of what was going on back here and it felt like we had an extra man on the pitch all the time.'
The squad's plane from the Austrian capital even made a series of low-flying passes over central Berlin to get a closer look at the crowd packed into the center of the German capital, which included thousands of children missing school to be present. Draped in the national colors and flags in a relaxed display of German patriotism unimaginable just a few years ago, many held placards thanking them for a thrilling run to the final.
'We were all pretty sad last night but I think we achieved a lot with second place and I think we can all be proud that we were in the final,' coach Joachim Loew said. 'Spain were a great team throughout the tournament and they were a class act last night. But if we meet Spain in a tournament again, we'll beat them next time.'
Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann admitted giving away the goal was going to haunt him. 'That's one I wish I could have stopped,' Lehmann said. 'It's going to haunt me for the rest of my life. But even though we lost it's still great that the people are so enthusiastic.'
Team mate Bastian Schweinsteiger said: 'This feels really good to be here after the deep disappointment last night. It helps the healing process.'
The hour-long tribute, broadcast live nationwide on several networks, included rock music and short interviews with all 23 players on the team. It was concluded with the traditional beer shower.
There was a similar tribute for Germany after the 2006 World Cup. But the spirit was clearly better there after the team had won the match for third place against Portugal the night before. This time, the defeat in the finals was still fresh on the minds of everyone present.
