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Low unlikely to spring surprise

Thu 15 May, 12:00 PM


Joachim Low is not expected to spring major surprises when he names Germany's Euro 2008 squad from the country's highest point on Friday.Low will march to the peak of the Zugspitze mountain, located on the Austrian border and with views stretching deep into Switzerland, to announce which 23 men will go with him to Germany's neighbours this summer.

And unlike his predecessor Jurgen Klinsmann, he is likely to keep faith with his more established names.

Ahead of the 2006 World Cup, Klinsmann dropped Kevin Kuranyi in favour of David Odonkor, who had never previously figured in the national team, while Kuranyi had not missed a selection in the past two years under Klinsmann.

However, the Schalke striker will certainly be expecting his name to figure in Friday's list, particularly after ending the Bundesliga season on a high.

He, Mario Gomez and Bayern Munich duo Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski are the obvious choices in attack.

That leaves Stefan Kiessling of Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg's Mike Hanke, as well as Schalke's Gerald Asamoah as other candidates with Low likely to take five forwards.

However, Oliver Neuville of second division champions Borussia Monchengladbach has so much experience that Low may be foolish to overlook him, even if he has not been playing in the top flight all season.

Several gurantees can be made in midfield where captain Michael Ballack and Bayern Munich's Bastian Schweinsteiger should have no fears about missing the cut.

An injury to Leverkusen's Bernd Schneider means his club colleague Simon Rolfes should be included while Thomas 'The Hammer' Hitzlsperger is another automatic choice.

Clemens Fritz and Piotr Trochowski have also figured regularly of late, but Odonkor, who came from nowhere to clinch a place two years ago, has started to hold down a place in the Real Betis team and cannot be ruled out.

The fitness of Bremen duo Tim Borowski and Torsten Frings will have to be taken into consideration since they have missed most of the season through injury, but Low is unlikely to pass on two further members of the squad which came third in the last World Cup.

Only one real question mark hangs over the defence with Arne Friedrich, Philipp Lahm, Marcell Jansen, Per Mertesacker and Heiko Westermann all practically guaranteed a place.

However, Real Madrid's Christoph Metzelder has completed an unexpectedly swift comeback from injury just in time to be considered.

"There will certainly be people who are disappointed," admitted Low. "Some people are going to get hurt."

And that could even be in goal, where no clear hierarchy has yet been confirmed.

Low said at Christmas that Jens Lehmann's place as number one could not be guaranteed if he does not play more games for Arsenal.

That never materialised and, although the 38-year-old did play the last two friendly matches, he is far from certain of his place as first choice.

Timo Hildebrand has played more regularly for Valencia while Robert Enke is finishing another consistently strong season with Hannover.

However, Schalke's Manuel Neuer and Leverkusen's Rene Adler could be called up for the experience and this could be where Low springs a surprise.

Germany fly to Mallorca next week for a training camp which will be interrupted by two friendly internationals on home soil against Belarus and Serbia.

They will then move to their Euro 2008 headquarters near Locarno in southern Switzerland from which they will plot their challenge for the championship.

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