BERLIN, May 16 (Reuters) - Germany coach Joachim Loew named 19-year-old winger Marko Marin and called up 23-year-old goalkeeper Rene Adler in place of Timo Hildebrand in a provisional 26-man squad for Euro 2008 on Friday.
Marin and Alder, both uncapped, were not the only surprises
as Loew also recalled Real Betis winger David Odonkor, despite
his uninspiring club form in Spain, and kept faith with another
old face from the 2006 World Cup, striker Oliver Neuville.
Marin, 19, had a spectacular season alongside Neuville at
Borussia Moenchengladbach, helping them win promotion back to
the top flight.
'Every time we've had Marin watched the reports coming back
have been positive,' Loew told reporters. 'He's really strong in
one-on-one situations and that's something we can use.'
The 23-year-old Adler is one of a group of outstanding young
goalkeepers in the Bundesliga and joins first choice Jens
Lehmann and Robert Enke on the flight for a training camp in
Mallorca starting on Monday.
Hildebrand, who was the third-choice keeper at the World Cup
in Germany two years ago, loses his place after a difficult
first season in Spain with Valencia.
Loew, who must trim the squad to 23 by the May 28 deadline,
chose a third second division player in Cologne striker Patrick
Helmes, who also celebrated promotion this season.
Germany are in Group B for the June 7-29 tournament with
co-hosts Austria, Croatia and Poland.
In an act loaded with symbolism, Loew chose to announce his
squad overlooking Austria on the Zugspitze, Germany's highest
mountain.
Poland in particular may groan at seeing Odonkor and
Neuville in the provisional squad.
The two sides were drawing 0-0 in their group match at the
World Cup in Dortmund two years ago before Odonkor came off the
bench and set up his fellow substitute Neuville for the only
goal in the first minute of added time.
Squad:Goalkeepers: Jens Lehmann (Arsenal), Robert Enke (Hanover
96), Rene Adler (Bayer Leverkusen)
Defenders: Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid), Per
Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Arne
Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Marcell Jansen (Bayern Munich),
Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen), Heiko Westermann (Schalke 04)
Midfielders: Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Thomas Hitzlsperger
(VfB Stuttgart), Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), Torsten Frings
(Werder Bremen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Piotr
Trochowski (Hamburg SV), Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen), Jermaine
Jones (Schalke 04), David Odonkor (Real Betis), Marko Marin
(Borussia Moenchengladbach)
Forwards: Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Lukas Podolski
(Bayern Munich), Mario Gomez (VfB Stuttgart), Kevin Kuranyi
(Schalke 04), Oliver Neuville (Borussia Moenchengladbach),
Patrick Helmes (Cologne)
