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.

Germany manager Joachim Loew has come out with a very young looking team for the World Cup 2014, as the nation is looking to go that final step and win a major trophy. Germany have been one of the biggest producers of top-level footballers in the last few years. They have been utilising a very young squad for the last few major tournaments. Hence, they were expected to come into the World Cup 2014 with a lot of experience. Loew, who has receded several disappointments in recent major tournaments, has come out with a young squad with an average age of just under 25.

This has been achieved by a result of leaving out experienced players like Mario Gomez and also calling up youngsters like Max Mayer of Schalke. Loew has revealed that he has decided to leave out Gomez, who is currently playing with Fiorentina, due to his persistent injury problems this campaign. The forward has not featured much in the second half of the season after injuring his anterior cruciate ligament midway through the campaign. He has featured in 59 appearances for the national team and has scored 25 goals.

It is expected that some of the youngsters announced will face a cut when the final squad is announced on June 2.

Gomez will be extremely disappointed to miss out on the call up for the World Cup at 27 years of age, as he is at the prime of his career. The striker has the experience of playing in the top level football like Champions League. He, however, was guilty of missing a number of clear-cut opportunities in the recent major tournaments and this seems to have played in the minds of Loew. The German manager is under extreme pressure to deliver a trophy for the national team.