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No Schweinsteiger, Goetze for Germany friendly against Paraguay Loew picks strong Germany squad for Paraguay friendly in preparations for World Cup qualifiers
Germany will kick off their international season with an almost full-strength squad for Wednesday's friendly against Paraguay as they prepare to book their spot for next year's World Cup in Brazil, coach Joachim Loew said on Thursday. "We go into this season with a lot of hope. The World Cup is right in front of us and this is the last stretch," Loew told a news conference. "The Paraguay game is not a warm-up exercise but a serious test against a South American team." Loew will be without midfielders Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Goetze, both having only recently recovered from injuries as well as Toni Kroos, expecting the birth of his first child. Germany are top of their World Cup qualifying group on 16 points from six games, five ahead of Austria whom they play on Sept 6 before travelling to the Faroe Islands four days later. "We have an outstanding position in our group and are on an approach flight to Brazil. In September we can take the decisive step. We want to win the group without losing a game," Loew said. Squad: Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Rene Adler (Hamburg SV) Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Benedikt Hoewedes (Schalke 04), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Marcell Jansen (Hamburg SV), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Arsenal), Marcel Schmelzer (Borussia Dortmund) Midfielders: Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkusen), Sven Bender (Borussia Dortmund), Julian Draxler (Schalke 04), Ilkay Gundogan (Borussia Dortmund), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich) Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Andre Schuerrle (Chelsea). Forwards: Miroslav Klose (Lazio), Mario Gomez (Fiorentina) (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at@AO Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/78621.aspx