German, Czech, Welsh squads for friendlies
Just thought the other squads in our group might be of interest, especially the Czechs as I thought Koller and Nedved would have retired.
Germany (vs Sweden)
Quote:
Goalkeepers: Jens Lehmann (Arsenal), Timo Hildebrand (VfB Stuttgart)
Defenders: Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Manuel Friedrich (Mainz), Marcell Jansen (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Christoph Metzelder (Borussia Dortmund), Jens Nowotny (Dinamo Zagreb)
Midfielder: Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen), Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen), Thomas Hitzlsperger (VfB Stuttgart), Sebastian Kehl (Borussia Dortmund), David Odonkor (Borussia Dortmund), Bernd Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich)
Forwards: Gerald Asamoah (Schalke 04), Mike Hanke (VfL Wolfsburg), Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen), Oliver Neuville (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich).
Same as the WC squad but Per Mertesacker and Robert Huth are injured, M.Friedrich is in. Kahn retired.
Czech Republic (vs Serbia)
Quote:
Goalkeepers: Jaromir Blazek (Sparta Prague), Antonin Kinsky (Ramenskoya)
Defenders: Zdenek Grygera (Ajax), Marek Jankulovski (AC Milan), David Rozehnal (Paris St Germain), Tomas Ujfalusi (Fiorentina), Radoslav Kovac (Spartak Moscow), Tomas Zapotocny (Liberec)
Midfielders: Pavel Nedved (Juventus), Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal), Jaroslav Plasil (Monaco), Jan Polak (Nurnberg), Karel Pitak (Salzburg), David Jarolim (Hamburg), Jiri Jarosik (Celtic)
Forwards: Jan Koller (Monaco), Libor Sionko (Rangers), Roman Bednar (Hearts)
The Czechs only called up 18 players. Cech, Baros and Smicer are injured. Poborsky has retired. From the WC squad Jiranek (RB), Mares (LB), Galasek (MC), Heinz (FC), Lokvenc (FC), Stajner (FC) and the unavailable players mentioned are all left out.
Added to the squad are defender Zapotocny, midfielders Jarosik and Pitak and striker Bednar. Interesting to see that the coach seems to rate the SPL. I don't think Jarosik ever got a callup while at Birmingham and it's Bednar's first callup. Rangers' Sionko isn't a striker, he's an attacking midfielder so they'll almost certainly be playing 4-5-1.
Wales (vs Bulgaria)
Quote:
Goalkeepers: Paul Jones (QPR), Danny Coyne (Burnley), Jason Brown (Blackburn)
Defenders: James Collins (West Ham), Mark Delaney (Aston Villa), Richard Duffy (Portsmouth), Robert Edwards (Wolves), Danny Gabbidon (West Ham), Lewin Nyatanga (Derby), David Partridge (Bristol City), Sam Ricketts (Hull)
Midfielders: Simon Davies (Everton), Carl Fletcher (Crystal Palace), Jason Koumas (West Brom), Joe Ledley (Cardiff), Carl Robinson (Norwich), David Vaughan (Crewe)
Forwards: Craig Bellamy (Liverpool), David Cotterill (Bristol City), Robert Earnshaw (Norwich), Ryan Giggs (Manchester United).
Decent forwards but that's about all they have. We're certainly stronger than these but it's a derby of sorts so it'll be tough.
