By Xinhua
Berlin : Injured captain Michael Ballack will make his return to the national side in Germany’s forthcoming friendly against Austria next week, coach Joachim Loew has said.
“We are pleased that Michael is fully fit and returns to the team after such a long time. He has made a strong comeback at Chelsea and we hope he can continue this positive trend with us,” Loew said Thursday.
“He will play a very important role as captain and team leader in our preparations for the Euro 2008,” he added.
Chelsea midfielder Ballack, who was sidelined from April with a complicated ankle injury, returns to the national side after a span of 10 months. He last played for Germany in a Euro 2008 qualifier in the Czech Republic last March.
The matches against the Euro co-hosts Austria and Switzerland next Wednesday in Vienna and in March respectively are Germany’s only outings before Loew names his squad for the European championship slated for June 7-29.
Also returning to the side is Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Bernd Schneider. However, injured Torsten Frings, Christoph Metzelder, Arne Friedrich, Marcell Jansen, Clemens Fritz, Christian Pander and Serdar Tasci have been ruled out for the next week’s tie.
The uncapped Schalke duo of Jones and Westermann are the new faces in the squad.