Freier earns Germany recall

Injuries have deprived coach Joachim Low of two of his midfielders.

Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Paul Freier has been added to Joachim Low's Germany squad after injuries deprived the coach of two of his midfield men.

Freier's team-mate Bernd Schneider has been ruled out with a muscle strain sustained in Bundesliga action at the weekend, while Piotr Trochowski damaged his Achilles playing for Hamburg against Borussia Monchengladbach.

Low is already without injured strikers Lukas Podolski, Sebastian Kehl and Sebastian Deisler, as well as defenders Christoph Metzelder, Marcell Jansen and Alexander Madlung for Wednesday's Euro 2008 qualifier against Cyprus.

"We need players who are 100 percent fit," said Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff.

"It wouldn't make any sense to take Bernd or Piotr with us."

Freier, 27, won the last of his 18 caps in a 2-2 draw against Argentina back in February 2005.

"We're delighted to have him back," said Bierhoff. "He's had a very good run at Bayer Leverkusen and he's well acquainted with our team."