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FRANKFURT, Germany -- Germany coach Joachim Loew made several surprise inclusions in his preliminary 30-man World Cup squad on Thursday, with established regulars such as Mario Gomez missing out. Loew named relatively unknown players such as Sampdoria defender Shkodran Mustafi, Borussia Dortmund defender Erik Durm, Augsburg attacking midfielder Andre Hahn, Hoffenheim striker Kevin Volland, and Schalke midfielders Max Meyer and Leon Goretzka, 18 and 19 respectively. None have made any appearances for the senior side. Freiburg midfielder Matthias Ginter, who made his debut against Chile in March, was also named. "We need young dynamic players like those who perhaps only recently played themselves into contention. They can inject fresh impetus into the side," said Loew, whose team was booed by its own fans during the lacklustre 1-0 win over Chile. The average age of the side is 24.8 years, and Loew, who was assistant to Jurgen Klinsmann before taking over after the 2006 World Cup, feels he has struck the right balance between youth and experience. "Many players are used to high-pressure situations from playing in the Champions League, they can live with it," Loew said. "Our foreign-based players also profit from establishing themselves abroad. That brings them further on a sporting level. Generally we have a good mix in the squad." Gomez, who has 25 goals in 59 games for Germany, missed out due to a left knee injury after a season blighted by injuries at Fiorentina. "He was injured for seven months, only played 280 minutes since September," Loew said. "So I formed the opinion that he isnt in a position physically to cope with the conditions in Brazil. There was also no place for Borussia Moenchengladbach goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen or former Germany No. 1 Rene Adler. "We didnt make any decisions against any players but for those who would maximize potential of the squad. Were very sorry for the players who didnt make it," Loew said. Dortmund keeper Roman Weidenfeller and Hannovers Ron-Robert Zieler will deputize for current No. 1 Manuel Neuer of Bayern Munich. Loew said he picked the players based on current form and fitness but made an exception in selecting midfielder Sami Khedira, who has yet to play for Real Madrid since having knee surgery last November. Bayern contributes seven players to the squad, more than any other side, with Dortmund boasting six. Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos and Mario Goetze lead the Bayern contingent, while Marco Reus, Mats Hummels and Marcel Schmelzer are among the best known Dortmund players. Arsenal trio Mesut Ozil, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski were all included. "Behind each of these names is a clear yes," Loew said. "Well have to send some of them home and of course that will lead to disappointment but those players will have contributed to German football and they can be proud of that." Loew has until May 13 to submit a squad of no more than 30 players to FIFA, with the deadline for the final 23-man squad on June 2. Due to the German Cup final between Bayern and Dortmund in Berlin on May 17, Loew named a separate 18-man squad for Tuesdays friendly against Poland in Hamburg with eight first-time call-ups. These included Meyer, Goretzka and Volland, as well as Freiburgs Oliver Sorg and Christian Guenter, Antonio Ruediger of Stuttgart, Christoph Kramer of Moenchengladbach and Wolfsburg attacking midfielder Maximilian Arnold. Four other players were previously called up but have yet to earn their debuts: Mustafi, Hahn, Sebastian Jung of Eintracht Frankfurt and Sebastian Rudy from Hoffenheim. "Its clear to all of us that the team on the pitch in Hamburg wont be the team playing the World Cup in Brazil," Loew said. "We want to look beyond the World Cup. Some of the players can be influential figures in the big tournaments to come." In Brazil, Germany hopes to get off to a good start against Cristiano Ronaldos Portugal, before a reunion with Klinsmann, now in charge of the United States, and another game against Ghana, when half-brothers Kevin-Prince and Jerome Boateng will renew their World Cup rivalry on opposing sides. ------ Squad: Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hannover) Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Erik Durm (Borussia Dortmund), Kevin Grosskreutz (Borussia Dortmund), Benedikt Hoewedes (Schalke), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Marcell Jansen (Hamburger SV), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Arsenal), Shkodran Mustafi (Sampdoria), Marcel Schmelzer (Borussia Dortmund) Midfielders: Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Schalke), Matthias Ginter (Freiburg), Leon Goretzka (Schalke), Mario Goetze (Bayern Munich), Andre Hahn (Augsburg), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich), Max Meyer (Schalke), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Andre Schuerrle (Chelsea), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich) Forwards: Miroslav Klose (Lazio), Kevin Volland (Hoffenheim), Lukas Podolski (Arsenal), Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich) China Jerseys Wholesale .Y. -- Syracuse guard Trevor Cooney was mired in a shooting slump, and his woes coincided with a late-season swoon by the Orange. China Jerseys Stitched . PETERSBURG, Fla. https://www.chinajerseyscheap.us/. Viewers in the Canadiens region can watch the game on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt and listen on TSN 690. The Canadiens have won three in a row and four of their last five games and recently put the finishing touches on a 3-1-0 road trip. China Jerseys Cheap . Azarenka needed exactly one hour in a 6-1, 6-0 rout of Austrian Yvonne Meusburger to start the night session at Laver Arena. Sharapova had a much easier time earlier in the day with cooler conditions and took full advantage in 6-1, 7-6 (8-6) win over Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, while Radwanska had to rally for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Fake China Jerseys . Philippe Desrosiers stopped 42 shots through overtime and three more in the shootout to pick up his third shutout of the season for Rimouski (31-15-7). Zachary Fucale made 28 saves for Halifax (34-17-3) in the loss.It is the summer of 2012 and Brendan Rodgers is on the outfield grass at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. The Liverpool manager has been in the job two months but already he knows the weight the clubs crest on his shirt carries. It is a weight he tries to ease with every careful word that leaves his mouth and lands on the newspaper pages back home. Rodgers approaches the fence to say hello to the some passionate Liverpool supporters. "Are we going to win the league this year?" asks one. The new boss ducks the question with a smile. He, more than most, knows exactly what he has inherited. For a club like Liverpool this is rock bottom. It is the first time in the Premier League era that Liverpool have finished outside of the top four in three successive seasons. The previous season, under Kenny Dalglish, the Reds achieved their fewest amount of wins in a Premier League campaign, winning just 14 of 38 games on their way to an eighth place finish. They scored just 24 home goals in that 2011-12 campaign, their lowest amount since 1903-04. In the two seasons under Roy Hodgson and Dalglish, Liverpool lost 21 of 38 away league matches. During that time they spent over 100 million pounds on players called Andy Carroll, Raul Meireles, Christian Poulsen, Jonjo Shelvey, Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam, Jose Enrique, Sebastian Coates and Danny Wilson. Many of these average, overpriced players stood just yards away from Rodgers on the Fenway grass and if he really wanted to give an answer to such a ludicrous question all he would have needed to do was open up his arms and nod his head in their direction. It is August 18th, 2012 and the club is at The Hawthorns for a game against West Bromwich Albion to start their first season under Rodgers. There is evidence of a change in style as a scoreless game gets close to half-time but then Zoltan Gera blasts a screamer into the top corner and Rodgers is forced to make his first half-time team talk as a losing manager. It goes from bad to worse in the second half as Daniel Agger is sent off and Liverpool lose 3-0. "Well have more days like this, thats the reality," said Rodgers after the game. It is August 26th, 2012 and eight days after their opening day loss the Reds are at home against the champions, Manchester City. They take the lead twice but are forced to take a point when central defender Martin Skrtel, attempting to play the way Rodgers desires, keeps the ball too long and plays a mistimed back pass to his goalkeeper, one that is intercepted by Carlos Tevez who scores to make it 2-2. The Being: Liverpool cameras follow Rodgers after the match and once again he chooses words carefully, but this time shows just how much he is aware of Liverpools plight. "We are at the beginning of a process where we hope to build to make this club competitive again. People have asked me are we going to win the league? It is ridiculous to even say that. All of that takes time, hours. I came here not because it was an easy job, but because it was an extremely difficult job." Rodgers would be proved correct. Liverpool would score more than one goal in just four of their opening 15 games of last season. It is the last week in March 2013 and Steven Gerrard places the ball on the penalty spot at Villa Park. The England captain blasts home the winning goal to give the Reds their fourth win in their last five games. In the 13 league games after Christmas they have scored 32 goals after netting just 23 in the first 17 matches. There is a resilience about the group, featuring intelligent pressure on the ball, a cohesion to their attack and an aggressive tempo to their style, particularly in their passing and defensive game, that never existed under Dalglish.dddddddddddd "People have said we have turned the corner but I dont think were at the corner yet, weve still got a long way to go," said Rodgers that day at Villa Park. Five clean sheets in their last seven games of the season helped Liverpool finish on 61pts in seventh spot. They had moved up just one spot than the previous year under Dalglish but the table didnt tell the full story of progression. In the first half of the season they had scored 28 goals and claimed 25pts. They were a team on pace to finish 8th/9th with a total in the low 50s. They fell behind ten times and came from behind to win just once, losing six. In the second half of the season they had scored 43 goals and claimed 36pts. They were a team that would have finished in the top four with a total in the 70s over a full season. They fell behind nine times and came from behind three times, losing just twice. It is August 2013 inside Anfield and a buoyant crowd is excited for the opening day of a new season. Unlike the year previous, the schedule makers have been kind to Rodgers and his team. Seven of their first eight opponents didnt finish in the top half of the league last season. Their first opponents, Stoke City, are one of them but after a thoroughly dominating performance, the Reds are up by a single goal to nil in the final minute when the visitors are awarded a penalty. It is only game one of 38, spread across ten months, but new goalkeeper Simon Mignolet makes the biggest save he will make all season and another Rodgers signing, Daniel Sturridge, scores the game winner. It is now, well and truly, a team molded by Rodgers. The manager, known to hold back on predictions and grand statements, has no such reservations about Sturridge: "I think he can be one of the top scorers in the league this year." How right he was. With Luis Suarez suspended, the former Manchester City and Chelsea striker scores in each of the clubs first four games to lay a foundation for the team to build on. The Reds would lose just two of their first 17 matches before suffering back-to-back narrow defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea in the span of four days. In 13 Premier League games in January, February and March, Liverpool went on to win 11 and draw two. They arrived for their game at West Ham on Sunday as, by far, the best team in the league for over three months. It is the first Sunday in April. The Upton Park pitch is playing slow and Liverpools style isnt working as well as it has in previous weeks. Rodgers makes another tactical adjustment and the versatility his team has shown so often this season comes to the forefront once again. Liverpool finds another way to win another type of football match. As night falls on Merseyside the team arrives home knowing just how close they are to achieving the impossible dream. Five games to go and still they lead this enthralling Premiership race. In April 2012, one of the most iconic sports franchises was on their knees with a pathetic 46pts through 33 matches. Down the stretch they lost to West Brom, Fulham and Swansea. It is little wonder Rodgers is the calmest man in this title race. Not even he imagined all of this would come so soon. There is no award for man of the year in English football but it is, without question, Rodgers who deserves such an honor. That question, that once seemed so ridiculous, that one that Rodgers laughed off, is no longer funny. He may continue to not answer it but deep down he now knows the answer. Liverpool cannot just win the Premier League, the way they are playing they should win it. Five games to go to complete one of the biggest turnarounds English football has ever witnessed. ' ' '
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