France, England tests to give Loew ‘tough decisions’

BERLIN: Germany coach Joachim Loew says he will use the forthcoming friendlies against England and France to start making some “tough decisions” ahead of next year’s World Cup defence in Russia.

Germany face England away at Wembley on Friday and host France in Cologne four days later, which Loew will use to review his options.

The German squad gather in Berlin to prepare for the doubleheader with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, plus forwards Thomas Mueller and Marco Reus sidelined by injury.

Even without the star trio, Germany has an embarrassment of riches with new names pushing the established stars who won the 2014 World Cup.

The gamble of taking an inexperienced squad of fringe players to Russia for the Confederations Cup in June paid off for Loew.

Rising stars Timo Werner, Lars Stindl, Niklas Suele and Sebastian Rudy all seized their chance to impress.

Now Loew has numerous options for the England and France friendlies which are set to spark a fight for places in his 23-man World Cup squad.

“We have to make tough decisions,” said Loew in Berlin with Germany also to face Spain and Brazil in friendlies next March.

“If you want to be world champion, you need world-class players. We have to have an incredibly strong squad where every player is in top shape — every day and every minute.”

The challenge for the Germans will be to repeat their Brazil 2014 success as the name to beat at the World Cup in Russia.

“We are the only team that can get worse - everyone will compete against us with huge motivation,” said Loew.

“We are the world champions and Confederations Cup winners — the world’s No 1.”

Meanwhile, there was an injury scare for Olivier Giroud after the Arsenal striker went down holding his lower leg while training with France.

Giroud was pictured rolling on the floor in agony as he trained with his teammates at Clairefontaine.

Arsene Wenger and Didier Deschamps will be hoping that their striker only suffered a temporary injury scare during training and that he isn’t out with a long-term problem.

The French were training on Monday ahead of their friendly clash with Wales at the Stade de France on Friday.

And just four days later, they face world champions Germany away as Deschamps’ side continue their preparations for the World Cup next summer.

Deschamps’ side won seven and lost only one of their 10 qualifiers and will be one of the favourites in Russia. Agencies