Germany rest top stars

World Cup heroes get to put feet up for Denmark friendly

Last updated: 7th August 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Germany rest top stars

Loew: Rested stars

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Germany have rested their top players for next week's friendly against Denmark.

Only eight members of Joachim Low's World Cup squad - most of them fringe players - were named by the coach among the 18 for the 11th August clash in Copenhagen.

Among those rested are Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Lukas Podolski, Thomas Muller and Miroslav Klose.

Low, whose contract was extended for another two years after he returned from South Africa, explained it was always the intention to rest the top players after their exertions in finishing third in the World Cup.

He said in a statement on the German federation website: "After the World Cup and the lengthening of our contracts, it was always going to be the case that we would do without our most established players against Denmark.

Responsibility

"We are aware of our responsibility for the form and health for the international players.

"So, after the great exertion of the World Cup, it is important for them to concentrate on their clubs and preparing well for the new season."

Low's squad includes two uncapped players, defender Sascha Rieter and midfielder Marco Reus.

Following the friendly, Germany's next competitive matches will be the Euro 2012 qualifiers away to Belgium and at home to Azerbaijan in September.

Germany squad to face Denmark: Manuel Neuer, Tim Wiese; Andreas Beck, Jerome Boateng, Sascha Riether, Marcel Schaefer, Christian Schulz, Serdar Tasci; Christian Gentner, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Aaron Hunt, Toni Kroos, Marko Marin, Marco Reus, Christian Traesch, Piotr Trochowski; Mario Gomez, Patrick Helmes.