Schalke 04 striker Mike Hanke has been rewarded for some impressive domestic form with a call up into Juergen Klinsmann's German Confederations' Cup squad.
The 21-year-old starred for Schalke in their run to the DFB Pokal final and to second place in the Bundesliga. Klinsmann felt his form was worth of recognition, saying: "Mike has impressed us for some time as he’s found his game and used goal chances with enormous energy and the right instinct."
Bayern Munich's Sebastian Deisler was recalled to the squad for the matches against Australia, Tunisia, and Argentina in June.
Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann was another to return to the fold with Klinsmann commending the player's acceptance of his situation earlier in the former Stuttgart striker's coaching reign: "He immediately accepted our initial decision to try out younger players and has also been exemplary for
Liverpool."
Oliver Neuville, Markus Babbel, Frank Baumann, and the unlucky Philipp Lahm are all omitted, but the coach has not closed the door on them just yet. "I have informed all the players not picked that they are still in with a chance for the World Cup. The Confederations Cup is an important milestone, but afterwards there will still be much to do for the World Cup," said Klinsmann.
Germany will hope to progress to the final of the tournament to be played between the 15th and 29th of next month across the country in preparation for the World Cup the following summer. Greece, Mexico, Japan, and Brazil complete the eight-team line-up.
Full Squad:
Timo Hildebrand (VfB Stuttgart), Oliver Kahn (Bayern Munich), Jens Lehmann (
Arsenal), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Andreas Hinkel (VfB Stuttgart), Robert Huth (
Chelsea), Per Mertesacker (Hannover 96), Patrick Owomoyela (Arminia Bielefeld), Christian Schulz (Werder Bremen), Michael Ballack (Bayern Munich), Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen), Sebastian Deisler (Bayern Munich), Fabian Ernst (Werder Bremen), Torsten Frings (Bayern Munich), Dietmar Hamann (
Liverpool), Thomas Hitzlsperger (Aston Villa), Bernd Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Gerald Asamoah (Schalke 04), Mike Hanke (Schalke 04), Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen), Kevin Kuranyi (VfB Stuttgart), Lukas Podolski (Koeln).
