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Veteran striker Miroslav Klose makes the cut as Germany announce their final 23 man squad for the World Cup. Joechim Loew preferred the Lazio striker over the inexperinced Kevin Volland. The 35-year-old striker needs two more goals to beat the record total of 15 held by Brazilian Ronaldo. Klose scored five times in the 2002 and 2006 World Cup finals and four in the 2010 tournament in South Africa.
He is now tied to the second spot with compatriot Gerd Muller. Despite making only 22 appearances for Lazio this season, Loew has put his trust on Klose who has always had this knack of delivering on the big stage.
He looks to be the only specialist striker in the squad, so the likes of Gotze, Podolski and Schurrle might have to step in as a forward whenever needed.
Joachim Loew dropped Shkodran Mustafi, Max Meyer, Leon Goretzka, Andre Hahn, Kevin Volland, Marcell Jansen and Marcel Schmelzer from the 30 man provisional squad to purge the squad to the stipulated limits. Other notable exclusion is Lars Bender who pulled out owing to a thigh injury.
Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira gets into the final squad after a long gap since his knee surgery. Up front Low has only two striking options namely – Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski as he opted to leave out Volland. Hence, he would expect Klose to make an impact in Brazil.
Germany is grouped along with Portugal, Ghana and USA. Tipped to be title contenders, Germany kicks-off its World Cup campaign against Portugal on June 16.
Germany’s final squad
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hannover)
Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Erik Durm (Borussia Dortmund), Kevin Grosskreutz (Borussia Dortmund), Benedikt Howedes (Schalke), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Arsenal).
Midfielders: Julian Draxler (Schalke), Matthias Ginter (Freiburg), Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich), Christoph Kramer (Borussia Monchengladbach), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Andre Schurrle (Chelsea), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich).
Forwards: Miroslav Klose (Lazio), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal).
