No Beck as Loew announces Germany squad

Germany coach Joachim Loew unveiled his final World Cup squad of 23 players on Tuesday, with Andreas Beck of Hoffenheim the man to miss out on the trip to South Africa.

Already without injured captain Michael Ballack, Loew admitted on Saturday he faced making some brutal decisions ahead of submitting his final team.

As well as missing Ballack, who was injured during Chelsea’s FA Cup final win over Portsmouth, Germany will also be without Heiko Westermann, who broke his foot late in the Hungary game at the weekend.

Defender Beck, who made his debut for Germany against Norway in February 2009, was the only player left on the sidelines by Loew.

Germany will begin their World Cup campaign on June 13 against Australia, and will also play Serbia, Australi and Ghana.

Loew’s squad will fly to South Africa on June 7 after a final warm-up game against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Thursday.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Schalke 04), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen), Jorg Butt (Bayern Munich)

Defenders: Dennis Aogo (Hamburg), Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich), Jerome Boateng (Hamburg), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Marcell Jansen (Hamburg), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Serdar Tasci (Stuttgart)

Midfielders: Sami Khedira (Stuttgart), Toni Kroos (Bayer Leverkusen), Marko Marin (Werder Bremen), Mesut Ozil (Werder Bremen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg)

Strikers: Cacau (Stuttgart), Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich), Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Lukas Podolski (Cologne)