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

Low backs Ballack return

Germany coach Joachim Low believes midfielder Michael Ballack  k will return to form and regain the captaincy of the national side after the Germans were held to a goalless draw by Swedeb.

In their final game of 2010, Bayern Munich's Bastian Schweinsterger led an inexperienced Germany to a dull draw in Gothenburg on Wednesday with four players making their debuts.

Having missed the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ with an ankle injury, 34-year-old Ballack fractured his leg just below the knee on only his third game back for Leverkusen in the Bundesliga this season and will not play again until 2011.

In his absence, Real Madrid's Sami Khedira has filled Ballack's position in the heart of Germany's midfield and after the side finished third at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Ballack will have to fight to win his place back.

But with 42 goals for Germany and with 98 caps behind him, Low is backing his former captain to return with the Germans set to host Italy in Dortmund in February 2011 in their next friendly.

"It always happens that when a player gets injured, others come through and start playing and that is what we have seen with Sami Khedira and Toni Kroos  (Bayern Munich)," said Low. "We haven't written off Michael and I am convinced he will make it back it into the team."

Germany are top of their UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying group and are undefeated after four matches with a five-point lead over their closest rivals.

Sweden draw with Germany as coaches experiment

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Germany and Sweden drew 0-0 in Gothenburg on Wednesday in an international friendly where both coaches took the opportunity to experiment with personnel and tactics.

Germany coach Joachim Loew fielded a young side with an average age of 23 while, still smarting from a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of the Dutch last month, Sweden started with a five-man midfield to try and smother the visitors' short-passing game.

Despite Sweden's numerical advantage in midfield, it was the experienced German pairing of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira who held the upper hand in the first half on a chilly evening.

It took until the 36th minute to register the first shot on target for either side when Sweden keeper Andreas Isaksson parried Schweinsteiger's drive from distance.

Sweden's only chance of the half came when Christian Wilhelmsson pulled the ball back in the box only for Ola Toivonen to miscue his shot from seven metres.

"It was difficult, the weather was extreme and the pitch was not very good, so it was difficult for us to create chances," Germany striker Mario Gomez told Sweden's TV10.

With both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Johan Elmander given the night off by coach Erik Hamren, it fell to Toivonen to lead the Swedish line alone. But all too often the PSV Eindhoven player came deep to collect the ball, adding an extra body to an already overcrowded midfield.

Real Madrid's Khedira almost gave the Germans the lead on the stroke of halftime as he latched on to a looping ball only to stick his lob over the crossbar.

Loew's decision to substitute his central midfield pairing on the hour mark allowed the Swedes a little more room to get forward and Lyon's Kim Kallstrom fired a volley wide in the 64th minute. 

Germany substitute Toni Kroos forced another fine save from Isaksson as he hit a rising drive from distance.

Hamren handed a debut to Helsingborg's Alexander Gerndt, but the top scorer in the Swedish league had little time to make an impression.

THe Swedesh coach was happy to see his side come away with a draw.

"Defensively we looked very good, offensively we had a few problems but in general I think we played a very good game," he said.