Germans to unleash the power of six

Loew had nominated Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski, both out of form this season, as well as Mario Gomez, Cacau, Stefan Kiessling and Thomas Mueller in his preliminary 27-man squad. He must finalise a list of 23 players by June 1.  "Our plan is to have all six strikers with us at the World Cup because we want to be flexible," Loew told SID sports agency.
"With Lukas Podolski, Thomas Mueller and Cacau we have three strikers who can come from further behind and also play on the wings," Loew said. 

Podolski has had the worst season of the three in his first year back in Cologne, scoring just twice compared to Cacau's and Mueller's 13 goals each.

"Klose, Gomez and Kiessling are more centre forwards. I want to have sufficient options to react if needed," he said.

Kiessling has enjoyed a successful season at Bayer Leverkusen, netting 21 times and finishing second on the scorers' list. Bayern Munich's Klose and Gomez combined for a total of only 13 goals in the league this season.  Germany are in Group D alongside Serbia, Australia and Ghana in the tournament.

French squad today
France coach Raymond Domenech has another chance to court controversy and test his shattered popularity with the fans when he names his World Cup squad on Tuesday.

The uncompromising Domenech, who is booed by the France fans at every game, is likely to leave out several high-profile players when he unveils his 23-strong list for the June 11-July 11 finals in South Africa.

To be fair, it is not really his fault, with many stalwarts either struggling with injuries, no longer first-choice starters at their clubs or simply past their prime. Defender William Gallas has a calf problem, Thierry Henry and Karim Benzema have often been left on the bench at Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively this season and Patrick Vieira has been looking his 33 years of age, to name just a few problems.