Forward Mario Gomez to miss Germany's friendly against Italy in Dortmund due to knee injury

BERLIN — Bundesliga top scorer Mario Gomez will miss Germany's home friendly against Italy on Wednesday due to sprained ligaments in his right knee.

The Bayern Munich striker, who has scored 16 league goals this season, was hurt in his club's 3-2 loss to Cologne on Saturday.

Gomez pulled out Monday and is currently the only withdrawal from coach Joachim Loew's squad, although doubts remain over midfielder Sami Khedira because of a leg injury.

Khedira remained on the bench for Real Madrid's 4-1 home won over Real Sociedad on Sunday, but flew with teammate Mesut Oezil afterward to join the rest of the squad.

Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff says "those who are there, can play" in the match at Dortmund.

Six other players sat out team training on Monday, although their participation is not thought to be in doubt.

Khedira and Oezil were among six other players who sat out team practice Monday to train individually. The others were Bayern's Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Thomas Mueller plus Werder Bremen defender Per Mertesacker.

Germany ready for Italian job

Hosts Germany take on fellow European powerhouse Italy in Wednesday's friendly looking to build on their World Cup success, while the Italians continue their recovery after the debacle in South Africa.

While Germany finished third, Italy crashed out of the tournament having failed to qualify from their group and the hosts now have the chance to avenge their 2006 World Cup defeat at the hands of the Italians in the semifinal.

With the Azzurri rebuilding, veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has been recalled less than a month after making his injury comeback to bring some experience to the side.
Buffon has not played for his country since a herniated disc in his back forced him out of Italy's first match at the World Cup last June.

But he has earned an immediate call-up to coach Cesare Prandelli's squad.

The major surprise is the calling up of Inter Milan's Brazilian-born midfielder Thiago Motta who has long been a naturalised Italian and on Monday Fifa gave the go ahead for him to play for Italy.

He is one of three Inter players in the squad alongside Giampaolo Pazzini and Andrea Ranocchia.

Italy hold the upper hand in matches between the two nations with 14 wins compared to Germany's seven victories with eight games drawn.

The last time the teams met was also at Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park at the 2006 World Cup when the Italians sealed a 2-0 win after extra-time on their way to winning the title.

Much has changed since then as coach Joachim Loew has brought in an exciting brand of football by using fleet-footed wingers Mesut Ozil of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich's Thomas Mueller to inject pace into Germany's attack.
With Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez out with a knee injury, veteran Miroslav Klose is set to start up front as he looks to build on the 58 goals he has scored for his country, having won 105 caps.

He is still ten short of reaching Gerd Mueller's all-time record for goals in the Germany shirt.

There is no place in Loew's squad for ex-captain Michael Ballack, who is working his way back to fitness after four months out having fractured his left leg in September.

In his absence, Bayern defender Philipp Lahm is set to captain the side.

Wunderkind Mario Goetze is set to win only his second cap as the teenager has charmed Loew with a series of eye-catching displays for German league leaders Dortmund.

"My family make sure I keep my feet on the ground," said 18-year-old Goetze after Loew insisted his place is in the national side, rather than the Under-21s.

Goetze made his senior debut in Sweden last November.

Both Germany and Italy are cruising at the top of their respective Euro 2012 qualifier groups and are odds on favourites to win Group A and C respectively with the finals to be held in Ukraine and Poland in June next year.

Mertesacker won't quit Bremen

Werder Bremen defender Per Mertesacker says he is not interested in listening to any possible offers as he is solely focused on his responsibilities with the Bundesliga club.

GettyImagesPer Mertesacker is a giant in defence and has attracted numerous suitors

Mertesacker has been strongly linked with a move to Arsenal, with Arsene Wengeradmitting he may be forced to sign a new centre back following injuries to Thomas Vermaelen and Sebastien Squillaci.

However, the Germany international, 26, has 18 months remaining on his current contract and remains committed to helping Bremen improve on 14th place in the Bundesliga table.

"We are in a difficult moment with Werder and we should not be talking about me at this time,'' Mertesacker told Kreiszeitung. "I am needed here for our day-to-day work and it is my duty to concentrate on that. I cannot deal with anything else.

"Like I say, most of it does not even get through to me and I have told my agent that he should leave me in peace. In certain situations, players should protect themselves by not losing track of the most important things in their job."

Merry Christmas

Germany agree bonus for qualification

German national team players have agreed a bonus of €18 000 per match for the Euro 2012 qualifiers to be paid if they reach the tournament in Ukraine and Poland.
The bonus is a rise of €3 000 per match paid for the Euro 2008 qualifiers, the German football federation DFB said Monday.
The Euro 2012 bonus will thus be worth €180 000 for any player who is called up by coach Joachim Loew for his squads for all 10 of Germany's qualifiers.
Qualification for the 2010 World Cup was worth €20 000 per player per match.
Six players earned the maximum €200 000 bonus for the 10 World Cup qualification matches - Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm, Mario Gomez, Piotr Trochowski, Heiko Westermann and Thomas Hitzlsperger.
Germany heads Group A in the Euro 2012 qualifers with a maximum 12 points from four matches, followed by Austria (seven points) and Turkey (six).

Ballack hits out at rival Lahm

Germany midfielder Michael Ballack has hit out at captaincy rival Philipp Lahm, claiming that the defender was wrong to go public on the matter ahead of the World Cup and should have spoken to him personally.

GettyImagesBallack, Lahm and Low: To be reunited

A serious knee injury saw 34-year-old Ballack ruled out of the World Cup, with Lahm taking the captain's armband and leading his side to a third-place finish, but questions have now been raised over who will take charge when Ballack returns to the fold.

The Bayer Leverkusen midfielder, who returned to the club after leaving Chelsea in the summer, feels that the issue of the Germany captaincy has been badly handled.

"It is a question of respect towards the captain," Ballack told German daily Express. "I have a clear opinion on this: to focus attention on the issue publicly at that time was wrong.

"If he had spoken to me, it would have left me with a very different impression. We have since spoken briefly. I still maintain you shouldn't do something like that.But we are professionals and something like that should not ever play a role."

Ballack also slammed coach Joachim Low for only announcing in September that the ex-Chelsea star will resume as national captain when he returns for injury next month.

"If he had made the announcement three months before, we would have avoided any unnecessary discussions," he said. "I was hurt, I could not do anything. But I am glad that the national coach made the position clear after the event."

With Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira forming an excellent partnership in his absence, Ballack also admits that he may struggle to assert himself on the side again.

"I will prove myself again, but I feel that at 34 years of age, it will be harder to reach the level to be able to play at the top again," he said. "This is a huge challenge. I also have a commitment to my club Bayer Leverkusen and the fans who expect a lot from me. I will return some of the faith they have placed in me."

Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel -- Youngest F1 World Champion