Germany coach Joachim Loew is giving captain Bastian Schweinsteiger every chance to prove his fitness for the European Championship despite the Manchester United midfielder's knee injury. The 31-year-old Schweinsteiger, who hasn't played since a partial ligament tear in national team training on March 22, was named Tuesday in Loew's preliminary squad of 27 players for the tournament in France, along with surprise inclusions Julian Weigl of Borussia Dortmund, Leroy Sane of Schalke and Joshua Kimmich of Bayern Munich. Despite an underwhelming season at Galatasaray, Lukas Podolski was initially picked for what could be his seventh consecutive tournament. The 30-year-old Podolski has 127 made appearances for Germany. Besiktas forward Mario Gomez is back in the squad after missing out on Germany's World Cup win in 2014. (For more sportsnews andupdates, followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand onFacebookatAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/217026.aspx
