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Relevance played down Injuries force Voeller to experiment against BulgariaPosted: Tuesday August 20, 2002 4:19 PMSOFIA (Reuters) -- Germany coach Rudi Voeller will be forced to experiment in Wednesday's friendly against Bulgaria, the team's first outing since their 2-0 defeat to Brazil in the World Cup final seven weeks ago. Goalkeeper and captain Oliver Kahn has pulled out because of a bruised knee and several other first choice players, among them Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann and Bayer Leverkusen striker Oliver Neuville, are also out injured. Bayern Munich midfielder Jens Jeremies, 28, will take over the armband for Germany's last warm-up before they kick off their Euro 2004 qualifying campaign in Lithuania on September 7. "Jens is the most capped player in the squad and this is also a way to thank him for his behavior and performances at the World Cup," Voeller said before his team's departure for Bulgaria. Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Daniel Bierofka could win his third cap while Hertha Berlin defender Arne Friedrich might make his international debut. Germany's Footballer of the Year Michael Ballack should share the play-making duties with Bernd Schneider, while Miroslav Klose and Carsten Jancker were expected to be paired up front. "What happened at the World Cup does not count any more," said Voeller. "We're making a new start." The former Germany striker experienced one of the bitterest moments of his playing career when Bulgaria knocked Germany out in the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup with a shock 2-1 victory in New York. Bulgarian coach Plamen Markov is also using the match as a workout before his side start their Euro 2004 campaign in Belgium on September 7. Markov will rely on three Bundesliga players. Captain Krassimir Balakov of Stuttgart is the only player remaining from the side that beat Germany and reached the semifinals of the World Cup in 1994. The 36-year-old veteran will be celebrated later on Tuesday by the Bulgarian sports community as a recognition of his service to the sport. The midfielder, who has won 82 caps and has scored 14 goals for Bulgaria, played down media speculation that the game against Germany would be his last international. The other two German-based players are strikers Martin Petrov of Wolfsburg and Dimitar Berbatov of Bayer Leverkusen. Meanwhile the Bulgarian FA said on Tuesday they had fixed up an away friendly against Spain on November 20. Probable teams: Bulgaria: Zdravko Zdravkov; Radostin Kishishev, Rossen Kirilov, Predrag Pazhin, Ivailo Petkov, Stilian Petrov, Georgi Peev, Krassimir Balakov, Milen Petkov, Dimitar Berbatov, Martin Petrov Germany: Jens Lehmann; Christoph Metzelder, Carsten Ramelow, Ingo Hertzsch (or Arne Friedrich); Bernd Schneider, Jens Jeremies, Sebastian Kehl, Daniel Bierofka, Michael Ballack; Miroslav Klose, Carsten Jancker. Referee: Stephane Bre (France) Voeller plays down relevance of friendlyBERLIN (Reuters) -- Germany's first outing since their surprise run to the World Cup final has lost some of its relevance after a string of injury blows, coach Rudi Voeller said on Tuesday. "It's becoming a bit too much," Voeller said of the injury situation before his team left for Sofia, where they will play Bulgaria in a friendly international on Wednesday. The former Germany striker made it clear that he treated the game as warm-up before Germany kick off their Euro 2004 qualifying campaign in Lithuania on September 7. "I have to admit that I'm already thinking about the Lithuania match," he said. "That will be the toughest game of the year and we will probably have a totally different team then." Dealing with selection headaches is nothing new to Voeller, who guided Germany to the World Cup final despite the absence of several valued players. "We are forced to experiment," said the coach, whose team have not played since their 2-0 defeat to Brazil in the World Cup final on June 30. Goalkeeper and captain Oliver Kahn was the first to pull out of Wednesday's game after bruising his right knee during Bayern Munich's 6-2 win over Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday. Midfielders Joerg Boehme, Torsten Frings and Dietmar Hamann and striker Oliver Neuville then withdrew as well. All this means uncapped Hertha Berlin defender Arne Friedrich and a few relatively untested players, including promising Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Daniel Bierofka, might get a chance to prove their worth. Bulgaria will still have to deal with a few prominent figures of Germany's World Cup team, most notably playmaker Michael Ballack and striker Miroslav Klose. "We want to offer a satisfying performance and I'm convinced we will do that," said Voeller, who refused to drop any hints on his starting lineup. Hamann out of Germany squadLIVERPOOL, England (AP) -- Dietmar Hamann has withdrawn from the German squad to face Bulgaria in a friendly match, his club Liverpool said Tuesday. Hamann, 28, picked up a knee injury during Liverpool's victory at Aston Villa on Sunday. He will stay behind for treatment while his international teammates play their first game since the World Cup final on Wednesday in Sofia. Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier expects to have the influential midfielder available for selection when Southampton visits Anfield on Saturday, the club said on its Web site. Germany is already without Dortmund defender Torsten Frings, Leverkusen forward Oliver Neuville and goalkeeper Oliver Kahn to injuries. Dortmund defender Christoph Metzfelder may also be out. Daum not interested in coaching troubled KaiserslauternKAISERSLAUTERN, Germany (AP) -- Christoph Daum said Tuesday he isn't interested in coaching Bundesliga club FC Kaiserslautern, which is in upheaval. The club's chairman-of-the-board, Juergen Friedrich, has been told he will have to leave office in September while coach Andreas Brehme's job is also in danger after a disappointing last season. "Kaiserslautern isn't a theme for me for various reasons -- I won't even engage in informal talks with the club," said Daum, the former Bayer Leverkusen coach who was also designated to lead Germany before failing a drug test. Kaiserslautern was pounded 3-1 by Schalke Saturday, deepening the pressure on Friedrich and Brehme at the club, which missed qualifying for international competition last season. Daum criticized the way Kaiserslautern officials were handling the situation and what's apparently an increasingly bitter power struggle at the club. "That's really dirty stuff there -- I'm not available for the kinds of things that are taking place there now," Daum said. Other front office heads are expected to roll at the club, while a group called "Our Kaiserslautern" has collected 900 signatures demanding changes in the front office and a new coach. That's enough to force a special general assembly of the club's members. Daum, who coached at Besiktas Istanbul last year, said he will take a job late this year on in early spring. Daum was cleared of all charges of buying cocaine in a recent court trial and is expected to get an offer from a Bundesliga club since he is still regarded as one of the country's top coaches. Kaiserslautern won the Bundesliga title in sensational style in 1998 -- the only team promoted from the second division ever to do so in its first year. After mixing it up near the top for the following two years, the Red Devils now appear to have lost contact with the league's top clubs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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