Coach Joachim Löw has called up three untried players to Germany’s national team for next month’s matches against Georgia and Slovakia. Hamburg SV playmaker Piotr Trochowski, Alemannia Aachen forward Jan Schlaudraff and Werder Bremen defender Clemens Fritz are the three uncapped outfield players in the squad that was announced on Friday.

Germany are currently top of Euro 2008 qualifying Group D with 6 points after beating Ireland (1-0) and San Marino (13-0) in their two games so far. They have a friendly against Georgia in Rostock on Oct. 7 before playing their third qualifying match away to Slovakia on Oct. 11.

Löw also called up Robert Enke, the 29-year-old Hanover 96 goalkeeper, for the first of the two games. Enke was in the squad for the Confederations Cup in 1999 in Mexico but has yet to play for Germany.

Gerald Asamoah is out of the squad after he suffered a compound leg fracture in Schalke 04′s UEFA Cup defeat by Nancy on Thursday, and Werder Bremen pair Tim Borowski and Per Mertesacker are also missing due to injury. Midfielder Borowski injured his left leg in Werder’s Champions League outing on Wednesday, in which they were held to a 1-1 draw …

Germany coach Joachim Löw has decided to select Hanover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke as the national team’s latest back-up to first choice Jens Lehman following the retirement of Oliver Kahn. Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff confirmed media reports that Enke will be named by Loew ahead of a friendly against Georgia on Oct. 7 in Rostock.

Enke, 29, will join the squad together with VfB Stuttgart goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand in the number two spot behind Lehmann of Arsenal. He was picked over Roman Weidenfeller of Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen’s Tim Wiese but Bierhoff stated that Weidenfeller might also be given a chance in the near future.

Kahn announced his international retirement at the end of the World Cup having been replaced as first choice by Lehmann under former coach Juergen Klinsmann. He only starred in one match during the World Cup, the third-place playoffs against Portugal.

Bierhoff also mentioned that Werder Bremen defender Per Mertesacker, who had been sidelined for the last 3 months after surgery on his heel, would not be included in Loew’s squad for the Georgia game or the Euro 2008 qualifier against Slovakia on Oct. 11 in Bratislava. Even though Mertesacker, a stalwart centre back …

Joachim Löw’s side emerged on top of Group D, after thrashing San Marino 13-0 and keeping a third consecutive clean sheet since the coach replaced Jürgen Klinsmann. Having beaten the Republic of Ireland 1-0 on Saturday, Löw’s men established a UEFA European Championship record 6-0 half-time lead in Serravalle before earning Germany’s biggest victory since their 16-0 success against Russia at the 1912 Olympics. The final result bettered Spain’s 12-1 defeat of Malta in qualifying for the 1984 finals.

Having fielded the same lineup that started against Ireland, Löw was delighted to see his team show the European minnows no mercy. “We started with a good, professional attitude,” he said. “You could see that the players wanted to have a lot of fun and enjoy their good performance. They never sat back and always wanted to score – a good omen for the tasks that lie ahead.”

As with most David and Goliath ties, the question was always when, rather than whether, Germany would open their account. Podolski provided the answer after eleven minutes and the FC Bayern München marksman went on to become the first German player to score four goals in a European Championship game since German legend …

Germany coach Joachim Löw can look forward to a perfect six-point start in Euro 2008 qualifying after his side showed a gap of almost three years had not dulled their qualifying instincts.

Löw said his players would respect San Marino in their Euro 2008 Group D qualifier on Wednesday. “We want to win, we will win and we will not show ourselves up. I am sure of that,” said Löw on Tuesday.

Germany plays at San Marino today at 8.45pm CET.…

Germany gave new coach Joachim Löw the perfect start to his reign with a 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland in the first Group D qualifying match of the Euro 2008 campaign on Saturday.

Bayern Munich striker Lukas Podolski scored the decisive goal on 57 minutes but Ireland will feel hard done by as the free-kick took a cruel deflection off captain Robbie Keane. Group favourites Germany now head into Wednesday’s qualifier at San Marino with three points on the board. They should have little difficulty making that two wins out of two when they travel to take on San Marino on Wednesday.

That sort of start would ease the pressure on Löw, who stepped up to replace Juergen Klinsmann after Germany finished third at the World Cup, an event they qualified for automatically as hosts.

“It was a difficult birth but even a difficult birth can produce a beautiful child,” Loew said of the narrow victory over Ireland. “The goal was always to get six points from the first two games and we can do that now. It will put us in a very good position.”

Loew was particularly impressed to see his patched-together defence keep a clean …