Bastian Schweinsteiger named Germany captain

Bastian Schweinsteiger has been named Germany captain to replace the retired Philipp Lahm.

The 30-year-old Schweinsteiger, who will miss Germany's next two games because of a lingering knee injury, will take over from his Bayern Munich team-mate, who is also 30 but stepped back from international soccer after winning the World Cup.

Germany coach Joachim Loew also named former Stuttgart coach Thomas Schneider as his new assistant coach.

Schneider replaces Hansi Flick, who gave up the position he held since 2006 to become the German football federation's sporting director.