Germany Germany coach Joachim Loew picked a 27-member provisional World Cup squad on Thursday, including seven players from Bundesliga winner and Champions League finalist Bayern Munich.
Two new players were named in the squad — central defender Holger Badstuber of Bayern and defender Dennis Aogo of Hamburger SV. Veteran Bayern goalkeeper Joerg Butt was also called up.
The squad will be trimmed to 23 players shortly before the three-time champions travel to the World Cup in South Africa.
"They are brimming with confidence," Loew said about the Bayern players.
Bayern is also in the German Cup final and could win a treble.
"We are proud of Bayern's achievements" in all three competitions, Loew said. "They've shown great performances."
Loew's squad includes several young players, among them Badstuber, versatile Bayern forward Thomas Mueller, Toni Kroos, another Bayern player who was on loan to Bayer Leverkusen, and Marko Marin of Werder Bremen.
"We specifically picked younger players. They may be short on experience but they have a lot of qualities," Loew said at a news conference in Stuttgart that was televised nationally.
Six players are 20 or 21. Badstuber is 21 and Mueller is 20 and both are coming off debut seasons in the Bundesliga.
"He is clear headed and makes few mistakes," Loew said of Badstuber. "Mueller has an incredible instinct to be in the right place and the right time to score and he can play in several positions."
Mueller has played every game for Bayern so far this season (49), scoring 19 goals. He could push out some of the more established strikers.
Loew stuck with his experienced forwards Miroslav Klose of Bayern and Lukas Podolski of Cologne, although they have only three and two goals, respectively, this season.
Also included were Mario Gomez, who mostly sits on Bayern's bench, and Stuttgart's Brazil-born Cacau. With six forwards in the provisional squad, one of them is expected to be dropped.
While the choice of Butt was expected after the injury of No. 1 goalkeeper Rene Adler, the selection of Aogo was a major surprise. It remains to be seen if Aogo will make the final cut.
"He is technically very good and can go forward well," Loew said of the 23-year-old defender.
Butt was also in the 2000 European Championship squad and in the 2002 World Cup squad. He has three games for Germany, which is more than either Manuel Neuer of Schalke and Tim Wiese of Werder Bremen. Both have two appearances each for Germany and none was a full game.
"Butt has tournament experience, he has had an outstanding season and he provide support to younger players," Loew said.
Loew would not commit on who would be his starting goalkeeper, and the 35-year-old Butt is thought to have a chance. Robert Enke, who would have been the No. 1 goalkeeper, committed suicide in November after a bout of depression.
Adler pulled out earlier this week because of a rib injury that needs surgery. Leverkusen midfielder Simon Rolfes dropped out with a knee injury and Lazio midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger, who has hardly played this season, has been dropped.
"I am sure that it's never been so difficult and complicated to pick a squad and prepare for a major tournament," Loew said.
With Bayern still chasing titles and captain Michael Ballack's Chelsea in the FA Cup final, Loew won't have many of his top players until late in the preparations. Bayern plays Werder Bremen in the German Cup final on May 15 and Inter Milan in the Champions League final a week later.
Germany will use several young non-nominated players in the friendly against Malta on May 13, then play in Hungary on May 29 and against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Frankfurt on June 3.
Germany's group rivals in South Africa are Australia, Serbia and Ghana.
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