The defending champions begin to finetune their World Cup preparations with high-profile home friendlies against Spain, in Duesseldorf, and Brazil, in Berlin next Tuesday.
Loew revealed yesterday that World Cup winners Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Thomas Mueller, Mesut Ozil and Toni Kroos will all face Spain in a strong line-up, although Liverpool midfielder Emre Can is missing after picking up a back injury while on club duty.
“Emre Can will not be in the squad tomorrow because of the back problem he brought with him from Liverpool,” Loew told reporters. “He tried to train yesterday but broke it off because it was pinching a bit. “Maybe Saturday he can return to training and hopefully play a role against Brazil (next week).”
The biggest absence will be Germany captain Manuel Neuer, recovering from a fractured foot, while Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen will start in goal. There are just three months before the World Cup kicks off in Russia, and while Loew expects both teams to impress today he also knows neither will be keen to put all their wares on display.
“It will be a game in which both teams will want to show what they can do,” said Loew.
“However, neither will want to lay their cards on the table.
“If we were to play Spain at the World Cup, it would be a very different game and we know they are a top team in every respect.
“Their best 11 to 13 players come from Atletico, Barca and Real, uniting all these virtues.
“You have Atletico’s pressing game, Real’s high speed and quick counter-attack with Barca’s possession. That unites the national team and for me, they are one of the top favorites.”
Loew has a big pool of players to chose from for the tournament in Russia and said he had still not ruled out Borussia Dortmund trio Mario Goetze, Marco Reus and Andre Schuerrle, all of whom did not receive a call up for these two games.
“I have talked to Mario and I was of the opinion that he was not at the level we would want,” Loew said of Goetze, scorer of Germany’s World Cup-winning goal in 2014. “He is ambitious and he is in no way ruled out,” the coach said. Loew said Schuerrle, who set up Goetze to score in the 2014 final, had experienced a dip in form earlier in the season but was now improving.
“He played few matches in the first half of the season but he is now rising and we know how to appreciate what Andre can do. He is for us still an issue for the World Cup.”
Spain, under head coach Julen Lopetegui, won nine and drew the other with stars Diego Costa, Isco, Alvaro Morata and David Silva each scoring five goals in qualifiers. The Spanish have also set up high-profile friendlies this month and host Argentina in Madrid next Tuesday.
The 2010 World Cup winners are unbeaten since Lopetegui took over after Euro 2016, while Germany are on a 21-match unbeaten run. Morata, plus his Chelsea team-mates Cesc Fabregas and Pedro were left out for the Germany and Argentina friendlies by Lopetegui.
Germany’s Tony Kroos could face Real Madrid midfield teammates Isco and Marco Asensio in Duesseldorf and is relishing the prospect. “Spain is a special game and a few of my Real teammates will be involved,” said Kroos, who left Bayern Munich for Madrid in 2014.
“We talked about the game in advance, but nothing more.
“We’ll need to play well, Spain stands for a certain type of football – a mix of Real and Barca.
“They have lost some players, but brought in others and they are back at the top level. I see that every weekend in the (Spanish) league and they are clearly among the World Cup
favourites.”
In the snow without Neymar, Brazil brace for Russia
Training between mounds of snow without Neymar, Brazil may be forgiven for feeling out of their element as they prepare to face hosts Russia in their penultimate World Cup warmup.
The most expensive footballer on the planet is back home, celebrating his sister’s birthday with his famous right foot recovering from surgery in a protective boot. But things are deadly serious in Moscow, where the Selecao play on today at the same Luzhniki Stadium in which they hope to lift a record sixth World Cup trophy on July 15.
Coach Tite will try to make sure his superstars have learned from the unmitigated disaster of their 7-1 drubbing by Germany, whom Brazil play on Tuesday, on home soil back in 2014.
That fateful World Cup semi-final was played without the injured Neymar or suspended centre-back Thiago Silva.
Now, as then, Brazil are looking vulnerable in defence and missing their 26-year-old hero. “Neymar is a unique player. He is not here and replacing him is all but impossible,” Tite said after yetserday’s training session. “But my team has a lot of capable players and I am giving them every opportunity possible to prove themselves.”
Fighting for a spot
Without the Paris Saint-Germain star, Tite is entrusting the left wing to Juventus’s in-form Douglas Costa. The 27-year-old is in the prime of his career after spending much of it tucked away in Ukraine playing for Shakhtar Donetsk.
Costa has only found the net three times in 22 appearances in the national team’s yellow jersey but this is his time to shine, and he does not seem phased.
“Replacing Neymar is an enormous challenge, but we have a lot of class acts on the team who have big potential,” said Costa. “Neymar’s absence gives the other players a chance to show themselves, to show their best side.”
Costa will be paired up front with Chelsea’s graceful winger Willian and Gabriel Jesus, who has scored 11 times for Manchester City this season.
It is a dizzying array of stars and Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro may have put it most succinctly when contemplating the effect of such strong internal competition. “I do not want to lose my place to anyone,” said Casemiro. “I want to play for my country, play in all the matches, and I am ready to show my best at training to do it.”
If Tite is spending any sleepless nights, it might not be because of Neymar’s absence but due to his defence.
Despite boasting a trio of Neymar’s PSG teammates - Silva, Marquinhos and Dani Alves - Brazil have a weakness at left-back should something happen to Real Madrid’s Marcelo. His regular replacement Filipe Luis suffered a broken leg playing for Atletico Madrid last week and is expected to be out for two months.
Third choice Alex Sandro of Italian champions Juventus was injured during the first training session in Moscow.
As a result, Tite had to call up the uncapped 28-year-old Ismaily - named after an obscure 1956 British film called “Smiley”. He is a complete unknown in his homeland and his selection was perhaps more due to his geographic proximity - he plays for Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine - than anything else.
Rio’s Globo Esporte newspaper pointed out incredulously that Ismaily was the 10th left-back called up by Tite since he took over in 2014. Despite the problems, and temperatures due to drop to -9 Celsius (16 Fahrenheit) in Moscow, Brazil are hoping to leave a legacy.
“We will be playing in the stadium that will host the final, and we want to leave a wish,” said Casemiro.
“We want to come back here in the summer and try to win the title.”
