German headcoach Joachim Löw has nominated rookie Aaron Hunt into the squad for the two final friendlies of the year against Chile in Cologne on November 14th and against Ivory Coast in Gelsenkirchen on November 18th.

Against Ivory Coast, Löw has also nominated another rookie. Thomas Müller will complete the squad for the match in Gelsenkirchen. Ahead of this encounter, striker Müller from Bayern München is a member of the German Under 21 team that faces Northern Ireland in a EURO qualifier in Belfast on November 13th.

“I want Thomas to get a glimpse of the atmosphere in the ‘Mannschaft’. This is part of our concept which has also been arranged with Under 21 coach Rainer Adrion. Thus, Müller first has to take responsibility in the important Under 21 match in Belfast”, says Löw.

Bundesliga topscorer Stefan Kießling from Bayer Leverkusen returns to the squad that meets in Bonn on Tuesday to start preparation.

Keeper Tim Wiese will start the match against Chile as Manuel Neuer will make his debut on homesoil against the Ivory Coast.

Rene Adler who was nominated as third keeper called off on Friday due to a keratitis in his eye. Löw announced, he won’t nominate …

South Africa-bound Germany needed a 90th-minute goal from Lukas Podolski to salvage a 1-1 draw as Finland came close to a win in their final World Cup qualifier. Germany had booked their berth at South Africa 2010 with a 1-0 victory over Russia on Saturday.

Löw had opted to rest Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and Per Mertesacker from the side which started in Moscow, but Löw still had captain Michael Ballack and Philipp Lahm here.

Finland, who were only playing for pride with World Cup qualification beyond them, opened the scoring when Jonatan Johannsson struck in the 11th minute. Hoffenheim’s Andreas Beck failed to stop Roni Porokara putting in a cross from the flanks, then Roman Eremenko beat Lahm to the header before Johannsson was the quickest to the ball and drilled his shot home from close range.

Johannsson had also scored in the 3-3 draw against Germany in Helsinki last September when Germany dropped their only other points of the campaign. It looked for most of the game like the hosts would finish with their first defeat in qualification games until Podolski was presented with a simple tap in.

Finland had other chances in the first-half as both Eremenko’s …

Miroslav Klose booked Germany their place at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as his first-half goal sealed a 1-0 win for the 10-man Germans over Russia in Moscow on Saturday. Klose’s 34th-minute strike leaves Germany four points clear at the top of Group Four and means they can not now be caught by their main pool rivals Russia regardless of either side’s remaining World Cup qualifier on Wednesday.

Russia play Azerbaijan in Baku while Germany host Finland in Hamburg in their last qualification game, but Guus Hiddink’s Russian side now face two-legged play-off matches if they are to reach South Africa.

Hambury defender Jerome Boateng started his first international in the cauldron of Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, but a second yellow card midway through the second-half earned him a red card as Germany finished with ten men.

Russia made a strong start and missed the opportunity to take the lead after nine minutes when Alexander Kerzhakov got in behind the German defence, but the Dinamo Moscow forward volleyed wide. Germany’s best chance came when Mesut Özil made a strong run into the head of the defence and Lukas Podolski’s shot was blocked by defender Vasili Berezutsky on 22 minutes.…

Goalkeeper Robert Enke will not form part of the German squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers in Moscow against Russia (October 10, 5.00 pm) and in Hamburg against Finland (October 14, 6.00 pm).

It’s the result of a recent conversation between National Coach Joachim Löw and the eight-time international. “Robert will only be able to train lightly in accordance with the team doctors and will have to ingest antibiotics. This means, that he won’t be totally fit for the qualifiers and therefore will not be eligible. We are happy though, that there finally is a diagnosis for his health problems and that Robert is on the mend.”

After lengthy medical examinations and lab tests, Enke’s club Hannover 96 had told on Friday, that bacterias, which can appear with gastro-intestinal diseases, had been detected in his body.

[DFB.de]…

Stuttgart’s former Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has been dropped from the first-team squad for paying a visit to Oktoberfest.

The 39-year-old was spotted at Munich’s beer festival only hours after his side had been beaten 2-0 by Cologne in the Bundesliga, although he had not been given permission to attend.

”[Director of sport] Horst Heldt and I will talk with Jens about this on Thursday and then we will see where to go,” coach Markus Babbel said on the club’s website.

Stuttgart confirmed Lehmann would not be part of the squad which travels to face Lubeck in the second round of the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday.

The keeper had gifted Cologne their second goal when he raced out of his area only to lose possession and allow Wilfried Sanou to shoot into an empty net from 45 yards out.

Lehmann apologised for breaking club rules, accepted the suspension, but claimed his motives were good.

”The visit to [Oktoberfest] was part of a charity event and it had been planned for a long time,” he said. ”However, it was not agreed with the club. Of course I accept the measures taken by the sporting management.”

[Soccernet]…

Bochum have apologised after news of coach Marcel Koller’s sacking was announced on their website on Sunday before it had been confirmed at a board meeting.

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Marcel Koller led Bochum into the German top flight in 2006.

The Swiss coach was dismissed but, four hours before the meeting took place, a press release was posted on the club’s website announcing his departure.

“This is embarrassing,” a club spokesman told Bild. “This press release had only been prepared in case it was needed. It appeared on our site due to a misunderstanding.”

Koller did not see the announcement, which appeared just ten minutes after he had finished leading his final training session at the club.

However, he remained disappointed to be told by club chief Werner Altegoer that his four-and-a-half year spell at the club was over.

“It is now official, I have been dismissed,” he told the Basler Zeitung newspaper. After a discussion with chairman Werner Altegoer, we both decided together to terminate the contract. I could feel that this dismissal was not easy for him. It is also painful for me.”

Koller led Bochum into the Bundesliga at the second attempt in 2006 and has established them in

…

Germany saw off a valiant challenge from England to secure their fifth consecutive European Women’s Championship crown with a resounding 6-2 victory in an entertaining match in Helsinki on Thursday.

Germany took an early lead at the Olympic Stadium through all-time leading scorer Birgit Prinz, who slotted home adroitly from Inka Grings’s clever reverse pass, before Melanie Behringer made it 2-0 with a stunning 40-yard drive into the top-left corner.

England, though, responded immediately and halved the deficit two minutes later when Karen Carney tapped into an empty net after a slaloming run into the penalty area from Boston Breakers star Kelly Smith.

Germany, the reigning world champions, re-established their two-goal advantage shortly after half-time with a goal that will have disappointed England coach Hope Powell. A German corner wasn’t dealt with and when Annike Krahn’s shot bounced back off the right-hand post, Kim Kulig was on hand to slam the ball into the roof of the net.

Again England fought back, Smith firing an expert left-foot shot across Nadine Angerer and into the bottom-right corner, but Grings brilliantly headed home Kerstin Garefrekes’s right-wing cross to kill off England´s comeback hopes and become the first player to score five goals …

Miroslav Klose kept Germany on course for a place at next year’s World Cup with two second-half goals to seal a 4-0 win over Azerbaijan on Wednesday night.

The 31-year-old Bayern Munich star has now scored 47 goals for his country to put him joint third amongst Germany’s goal-scorers and level with legends Jürgen Klinsmann and Rudi Völler.

With Russia winning 3-1 against Wales in Cardiff, Germany lead Group Four by a point from their rivals – who they face in Moscow on October 10. “We have done what we set out to do, now it will go down to the wire,” said Ballack. “The game in Russia will be the most difficult of the whole qualification campaign.

The best chance of the opening stages fell to Werder Bremen’s Özil when the 20-year-old broke through but fired his shot at goalkeeper Kamran Aghayev. It was only a matter of time before Germany got the first goal and it came soon after when Bayern’s Gomez threaded a pass through the defence for Köln’s Podolski. He was brought down by the Azerbaijan defence and Ballack slotted home the spot kick on 13 minutes.

After the break, Löw made a change with Klose …