Beck dropped as Loew names final 23

(GSM) – Andreas Beck has been left out by Germany coach Joachim Löw after announcing the final squad of 23 for the World Cup.

The Hoffenheim full-back is the only player to miss out after injuries to Rene Adler, Michael Ballack, Heiko Westermann, Christian Träsch and Simon Rolfes.

The 23-year-old was informed of the decision by Löw earlier today but defender was told he should remain on standby to fly out to South Africa if Germany pick up any more injuries in Thursday’s final warm-up game against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Frankfurt.

“It wasn’t an easy decision to come to. Andreas has trained hard and has enagaged himself fully in the last few weeks.” said Löw.

“He’s had an excellent season at Hoffenheim, and we’ve told him that he should continue to feel like part of the team. He is still young and will have further chances with the national team.”

However, Beck could feature if in any case Germany pick any further injuries.

“If one of our defenders gets injured, he would be the first candidate to come into the squad. I hope that we don’t have any more injuries though”, added Löw.

It is thought that the decision had come down to Beck or Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s Stefan Kießling as the main contenders to be left out.

Löw spoke about a ‘brutal decision’, seeing as only one extra player would be missing out following several injuries

“It must be incredibly disappointing for him, after three hard weeks of training. But many would be happy to see him back in the team in the future. He needs to go back now and get ready for the new season”, said Bastian Schweinsteiger.

“It must be feel terrible, but there are still worse things that could happen in the world.”