Germany coach relies on depleted U-20 squad

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Former champion Germany is heading into the U-20 world championship with a depleted squad, but the team's coach says he still has enough talent to make an impact on the biennial youth tournament.

Former Germany international Ulli Stielike's squad is missing five regular players, a couple of whom are starters for their Bundesliga clubs.

"Our primary goal is to help develop our young talents so that they can break through in the Bundesliga and their clubs," Stielike said.

"We have enough talented players in the U-20s despite having to leave out several players. We are quite optimistic and look forward to the championship. The first goal is to advance form the first round."

Stielike said several obvious choices were not called up for national team duty, including Fulham's Moritz Volz, Schalke's Mike Hanke and Philipp Lahm of VfB Stuttgart, because their clubs would not release them.

One player to watch during the tournament will be defender Robert Huth, who is slowly breaking through from the Chelsea reserves. He is big and strong and has a fierce free kick. Another Chelsea player on the German team is forward Sebastian Kneissl.

Germany, which won the tournament in 1981 after defeating Qatar in Australia, will play South Korea in its opening match in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. The United States and Paraguay are also in Group F.

"It's not an easy group," Stielike said. "The other teams don't have such problems assembling players. Their clubs are happy to have players present at such a tournament, because it's a window to Europe."

Hertha Berlin's Sofien Chahed and Malik Fatih, along with Erdal Kilicaslan of Bayern Munich, are other key players for the German squad.

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Roster:

Goalkeepers: Markus Gruenberger (Bayern Munich), Alexander Walke (Werder Bremen)

Defenders: Sofian Chahed (Hertha Berlin), Malik Fathi (Hertha Berlin), Robert Huth (Chelsea), Christian Lell (Bayern Munich), Alexander Meyer (Bayer Leverkusen), Christian Pander (Schalke), Michael Rundio (Stuttgart)

Midfielders: Dennis Buehrer (Freiburg), Matthias Lehmann (Munich 1860), Ioannis Masmanidis (Bayer Leverkusen), Patrick Milchraum (Stuttgarter Kickers), Christian Schulz (Werder Bremen), Piotr Trochowski (Bayern Munich), Benjamin Wingerte (Schalke)

Forwards: Erdal Kilicaslan (Bayern Munich), Sebastian Kneissl (Chelsea), Alexander Ludwig (Hertha Berlin), Denni Patschinsky (Viborg)