Germany’s Loew admits facing ‘brutal’ decision

Germany coach Joachim Loew admits he faces some ‘brutal’ decisions in the next few days as he looks to cut a player for his World Cup squad in the wake of his side’s 3-0 friendly win over Hungary.

Germany warmed up for South Africa with a convincing win over the hosts at the Ferenc Puskas Stadium on Saturday with a Lukas Podolski penalty and second-half goals by substitutes Mario Gomez and Brazilian-born Cacau.

But the bad news came on Sunday when it was revealed defender Heiko Westermann has been ruled out of the tournament after breaking his foot late in the game and Loew is now down to 24 fit players from the original 27 selected.

Loew will sit down with his coaching team to decide who will not be travelling to South Africa with the final 23-man squad set to be announced on Tuesday.

“There will be lots of speculation in the next few days,” said Loew.

“The coaches will sit down together on Sunday and Monday with the coaching staff and announce the squad on Tuesday.

“Of course, it will hurt for the player concerned, but unfortunately we can only take 23.”

Midfielder Marko Marin, Cacau and striker Gomez all impressed, while Hamburg midfielder Marcell Jansen made his first appearance since suffering an ankle injury in January.

Bayern Munich defender Holger Badstuber came off the bench to make his debut in the second-half, but Loew knows one of his players will soon be suffering World Cup heartbreak without even boarding the plane to South Africa.

“I haven’t yet got the player in my head who won’t be going,” he admitted.

“The decision will be brutal, not only for him, but also for the coaches.”

Germany begin their World Cup campaign in Group D on June 13 against Australia and fly to South Africa on June 7 after their final warm-up game against Bosnia-Herzegovina next Thursday.

With Germany captain Michael Ballack injured and out of next month’s World Cup, Bayern Munich striker Miroslav Klose took over the skipper’s armband.

Having played in last weekend’s Champions League final defeat, Bayern Munich stars Bastian Schweinsteiger and Germany’s new World Cup captain Philipp Lahm were both rested.

Ballack’s replacement alongside Schweinsteiger in the first-choice line-up is likely to be Stuttgart’s Sami Khedira and although he limped off in the second-off, the 22-year-old said there was no problem.

“In the first half, we played well and created a lot of chances,” said Khedira. “I myself have felt some pain, but I walked off at half-time.”

Germany were rarely troubled by the Hungarians and are sure to face much tougher tests in Group D against Ghana, Australia and Serbia in South Africa.

“The Hungarians didn’t have many chances,” said goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

“But on the other hand, it was good that we created a few goals of our own.”