Germany Squad for Brazil Friendly Includes Gundogan, Reus But Not Ballack

Germany coach Joachim Loew’s squad for the Brazil v. Germany friendly on August 10 in Stuttgart features the following highlights:

●Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira have been omitted from the squad given the intensity of their touring commitments for Real Madrid
●Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan gets his first call-up to the German national team
●Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Marco Reus hopes to get his first start for the German national team
●Brazil born striker Cacau faces the country in which he was born
●World Cup 2002 star Michael Ballack has been omitted from the squad after failing to get along with coach Loew

Germany have not beaten Brazil since 1993 and can claim three victories, five draws and twelve losses against the South American powerhouses. The August 10 friendly offers Joachin Loew a golden opportunity to redress the win-loss ratio in the direction of Germany's favor given the strength of the German midfield and Brazil's recent difficulty scoring goals.

Germany Squad

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen)

Defenders: Dennis Aogo (Hamburg), Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich), Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Benedikt Howedes (Schalke), Mats Hummels (Dortmund), Christian Trasch (Wolfsburg)

Midfielders: Sven Bender (Dortmund), Mario Gotze (Dortmund), Ilkay Gundogan (Dortmund), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Lukas Podolski (Koln), Marco Reus (Monchengladbach), Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), Andre Schurrle (Bayer Leverkusen)

Strikers: Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich), Miroslav Klose (Lazio), Cacau (Stuttgart)