Loew keeps faith in Germany Euro16 players

Aug 26, 2016 - 12:19 PM Coach Joachim Loew on Friday retained 19 players from his Euro 2016 squad for the opening match of Germany's 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

There is a first call-up for Hoffenheim's 20-year-old central defender Niklas Suele, while two other members of Germany's Olympic silver medallist team, Max Meyer and Julian Brandt, are also included.

Outgoing captain Bastian Schweinsteiger is included for Wednesday's friendly against Finland in Moenchengladbach, which will be the Manchester United midfielder's farewell game for the national team.

Germany take on Norway on September 4 in Oslo in the world champions' first qualifying match.

Jerome Boateng, Mario Gomez and Leroy Sane are out with injuries.

Midfielders Marco Reus and Ilkay Guendogan, who missed the Euros because of injury, are still absent as they continue their recoveries.

Lukas Podolski, who had also been due to be given a farewell after announcing his retirement from international duty, is out with an ankle injury.

Back in the squad is Bayer Leverkusen's winger Karim Bellarabi, who was overlooked for Euro 2016.

Source: AAP