Having lost Tim Borowski to injury, German coach Joachim Loew will also have to do without two more midfielders for Saturday's clash with Ireland at Croke Park.
The Werder Bremen midfielder pulled out with a back injury and he has been joined on the sidelines by Bernd Schneider and Roberto Hilbert.
The team's general manager, Oliver Bierhoff, said yesterday that they are unlikely to call up any replacements.
"We have enough players already in the roster to take their place," said Bierhoff.
The Germans, who need one point to qualify for Euro 2008, were already missing several stars.
Miroslav Klose has re-injured his right knee and Michael Ballack is recover-ing from an ankle operation.
Also missing are defenders Philipp Lahm and Christian Pander and midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger.
After the game in Croke Park, Germany return home to play the Czech Republic in Munich four days later.
With only one point needed from the last four games, the Germans already have started planning for next year's tournament.
The team's coaching staff met with a group of more than 30 players late Tuesday to give them individual preparation plans. The group included players who are not on the current squad but are considered close to getting a call-up.
Loew, however, is deter-mined to gain the necessary point as soon as possible and, as England found out on the last two occasions they faced them as Wembley, Germany are well-equipped to spoil a party in front of an expectant home crowd.
"I will look each player in the eyes and make it clear to them that they have a genuine chance of playing at Euro 2008," he said.
However, there is some consternation in Germany over the make up of Loew's squad with Hannover striker Mike Hanke dumbfounded by the coach's decision to pick second division striker Patrick Helmes ahead of him.
Hanke has not been included in the squad for the matches with the Republic of Ireland and Cyprus.
Loew has again favoured Cologne striker Helmes, despite the fact he has scored just two goals in the second tier this season.
"I don't want to even comment on the fact that Helmes has been called up and not me," Hanke said. "You can interpret that which ever way you want."
05 October 2007
Werder Bremen midfielders Torsten Frings and Tim Borowski are back in Germany's squad for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers against Ireland and the Czech Republic, but striker Miroslav Klose and captain Michael Ballack are still missing.
Klose has re-injured his right knee and Ballack is still recovering from an ankle operation. The Chelsea midfielder has not played since April. Klose leads the Bundesliga with eight goals for Bayern Munich.
Also missing are defenders Philipp Lahm of Bayern Munich and Christian Pander of Schalke and Stuttgart midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger.
Frings and Borowski return after missing the start of the season with knee injuries. Also back is Werder defender Clemens Fritz.
Stuttgart striker Mario Gomez is also back in the 22-man roster announced by coach Joachim Loew on Friday. Gomez missed last month's qualifier against Wales and the friendly against Romania.
Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is in the squad although he hasn't played for more than a month because of an elbow injury.
Germany leads Group D with 22 points from eight games. The Czechs have 20 points from nine games and Ireland 14, also from nine games.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Timo Hildebrand (Valencia), Jens Lehmann (Arsenal)
Defenders: Gonzalo Castro (Bayer Leverkusen), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Manuel Friedrich (Bayer Leverkusen), Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen), Marcell Jansen (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid)
Midfielders: Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen), Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen), Roberto Hilbert (Stuttgart), David Odonkor (Betis Sevilla), Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), Bernd Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburger SV)
Forwards: Mario Gomez (Stuttgart), Patrick Helmes (Cologne), Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen), Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke 04), Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich)
