German national team boss Joachim Loew has claimed that he expects midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger and defender Philipp Lahm to be fit for the World Cup. These players come on the back of a very long and hard campaign with Bayern Munich, which has prevented them from training with the group in the last few days of the training camp. There have also been reports that the German training camp has been resembling a hospital. Such allegations have been dismissed by Loew, who is under increasing pressure to deliver a major title with the national team.

Germany have come close to winning major tournaments since the 2006 World Cup. The country has been producing a number of talented youngsters like Toni Kroos over the years, but they are yet to end the trophy drought that has been going on for several years. Germany will be coming under a tough World Cup group stages since they will come up against Portugal, United States and Ghana. Loew surprised a few by naming a very young provisional squad, although some of the youngsters have been removed from the final 23 man squad.

One of the major absentees is Mario Gomez, which leaves the national team without top strikers other than Miroslav Klose, who is 36 years old. “(When you) see reports you would think that we are in a hospital here but that is not the case. We will travel to Brazil with a competitive and good team. The players are working very well and as it stands now I am very satisfied. Some are still injured and cannot fully train with the team but they are all training individually and I am very confident that it will work out. Philipp will start running on Tuesday and then we have to see every day,” said the manager.