Familiar faces returning for the Euro 2008

Germany’s coach couldn’t be more pleased.  Joachim Loew has recalled Werder Bremen’s Tim Borowski, Clemens Fritz and Torsten Frings.  All were missing due to injuries, but now they will return for the Euro qualifiers against Ireland and the Czech Republic.

   “I know that they can’t be in top form yet but I wanted to have them with the team again,” coach Joachim Loew said  Friday. “Torsten is one of our leaders, he’s been irreplaceable for years.” – From The Canadian Press

Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack will still be missing with injuries.  Klose re-injured his knee during Bayern’s clash with Bayern Leverkusen.  Stefan Kiessling will fill in for Klose.  Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is back in the squad as well, but hasn’t played a game in appproximately a month due to an elbow injury. 

Germany will play October 13th in Dublin and return home to play the Czech Republic four days later on October 17th.

Goalkeepers: Timo Hildebrand (Valencia), Jens Lehmann (Arsenal)

Defenders: Gonzalo Castro (Bayer Leverkusen), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Manuel Friedrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen), Marcell Jansen (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid)

Midfielders: Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen), Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen), Roberto Hilbert (Stuttgart), David Odonkor (Betis Sevilla), Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), Bernd Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburger SV)

Forwards: Mario Gomez (Stuttgart), Patrick Helmes (Cologne), Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen), Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke 04), Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich)