Germany's incentive to impress

By Mark Bennett & Patrick Hart

Places in Rudi Völler's squad for UEFA EURO 2004™ are up for grabs when Germany meet Belgium in an international friendly in Cologne on Wednesday night.

Out to impress
And both Arsenal FC goalkeeper Jens Lehmann and Bayer 04 Leverkusen defender Jens Nowotny will want to impress the watching coach. Nowotny is likely to start in central defence alongside Christian Wörns, even though the 30-year-old is out of form and favour with his club side. Lehmann for his part must convince Völler of his own strongly-held belief that he is a better option for the No1 jersey than Oliver Kahn.

Striking solution
Another who will be out to catch the eye is VfL Bochum 1848's attacking midfield player Paul Freier. He could line up alongside Kevin Kuranyi in attack, and with Miroslav Klose injured, and Fredi Bobic and Oliver Neuville struggling at Hertha BSC Berlin and Leverkusen respectively, he will have a chance to stake his claim for a squad berth.

'Enough in attack'
Freier is expected to play with a cast on his arm, which he damaged in a league match on Saturday, but has persuaded Völler against calling up a replacement for Klose, who has a knee injury. "We have enough attacking players in the squad and Paul Freier can play up front if we need him," the trainer said. Defender Frank Baumann is also on the casualty list, after damaging his ankle in training.

Probable lineup
Elsewhere on the pitch, Philipp Lahm and Arne Friedrich should take the full-back positions, behind a midfield unit of Dietmar Hamann, Torsten Frings, Michael Ballack and Bernd Schneider.

Mpenza withdrawal
Germany won their last friendly 2-1 in Croatia last month, and here Völler's men will face a team weakened by the absence of Emile Mpenza among others. The R. Standard de Liège striker injured his hamstring in training, so coach Aimé Anthuenis could turn to Mpenza's brother, Mbo.

On the sidelines
The experienced Geert de Vlieger, Wesley Sonk and Daniel Van Buyten are also sidelined, so Anthuenis has added 31-year-old FK Austria Wien defender Didier Dheedene to his squad rather than call up 16-year-old RSC Anderlecht starlet Anthony Vanden Borre. "I did not want to have too many young players, we have to keep a certain balance," he explained.

Opportunity knocks
With Belgium also unsure about the availability of defensive midfield player Timmy Simons, whose girlfriend is expecting a baby, Lehmann, Nowotny and Freier might not have a better chance to underline their credentials than on Wednesday night.