Germany captain Philipp Lahm will be rested for the friendly games in Ukraine (November, 11th) and against Netherlands in Hamburg (November, 15th) later this month after a busy year for club and country, coach Joachim Löw said on Friday.

Löw said Bayern München’s Lahm had played a lot of 90-minute games and deserved a break. “That is why he gets a rest and I get the chance to test alternatives for the left back position,” Löw said in a statement.

Germany qualified for the Euro 2012 finals in style after winning all 10 of their qualifiers. Löw also gave Bayern München’s keeper Manuel Neuer a one-game break and will use substitutes Tim Wiese and Ron-Robert Zieler against Ukraine.

First choice keeper Neuer will be back in the fold against the Dutch four days later. “We want to finish this successful year on a positive note,” Löw said. “It is also important to play in Ukraine and get experience ahead of the tournament next year.”

Philipp Lahm has been warned by the German Football Association (DFB) about his future conduct after causing irritation with his soon-to-be-published biography.

Excerpts from the book have been published in the Bild newspaper over recent days and his criticism of former Germany coaches Rudi Voller and Jurgen Klinsmann have not gone down well.

The DFB will discuss the issue with Lahm ahead of next week’s international matches against Austria and Poland and warned the full-back that he has overstepped the mark. However, taking the captaincy away from Lahm was not considered, despite speculation in the German media.

A row over the captaincy of the German national team threatens to torpedo the harmony within the side as the three-time champion takes on Spain in the semifinals of the World Cup Wednesday.

Injured captain Michael Ballack showed up in South Africa in what seemed like a show of support for his troops. But current captain Philipp Lahm caused a major controversy by saying he would not willingly hand the captain’s armband back to Ballack.

With Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final fast approaching, Germany captain Philipp Lahm has insisted his side are cool, calm and collected – and looking forward to inflicting defeat on Argentina.

On Wednesday, German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger opened a war of words between the two bitter rivals by branding the Argentinians ‘disrespectful’.

In response, Argentina coach Diego Maradona accused Schweinsteiger of being nervous of facing his star-studded side, but Lahm has said the Germans are looking forward to seeing how the South Americans cope with losing.

Lahm said at the start of the tournament this was the best team he had ever played in, and that view has been reinforced by events so far in South Africa.

Germany could hardly have wished for a better start to the tournament, thrashing Australia 4-0 in what was probably the best performance by any side during the opening round of matches.

However, they saw their wings clipped in their second game as they were defeated 1-0 by Serbia in a match that saw Miroslav Klose sent off and Lukas Podolski miss a penalty.

That left Germany needing to win their final Group D match against Ghana to guarantee themselves a place in the last 16 and, although it was not the best of performances, Low’s men won 1-0 to finish top of the standings.

Germany captain Philipp Lahm has admitted he is still confident that Joachim Loew’s side can qualify for the second round of the World Cup despite their 1-0 defeat to Serbia on Friday.

“There is still something positive, we still have the chance to reach the next round,” the German skipper explained. “Now we have a ‘final’ against Ghana, but we’ll be well prepared for this and I’m sure we’ll cope with the setback. We also played well after the two yellows to Klose. We had our chances to score and that makes me optimistic.”

Germany captain Philipp Lahm has sent a shudder through the World Cup field by insisting the three-times winners are only going to bet better.

Joachim Low’s players opened their World Cup campaign in ruthless style with an emphatic 4-0 win over Australia in Durban on Sunday.

And Lahm said Germany’s young players – led by the brilliant Mesut Ozil – were ready to step up another gear.

Newly promoted captain Philipp Lahm said he believes this young Germany team is the best he has ever played in, as they prepare to face Australia in their 2010 World Cup opener.

“This team is hungry, you can see it in every training session where the intensity and the enthusiasm are really high,” Lahm told journalists at the Germans’ training base near Johannesburg. “As far as I’m concerned, this German team is the best I’ve played in.”