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Mertesacker returns for game against Cyprus

The Associated PressPublished: November 9, 2006

FRANKFURT, Germany: Germany recalled central defender Per Mertesacker on Thursday for the first time since the World Cup.

Coach Joachim Loew included Mertesacker in a 19-man squad for next week's European Championship qualifying game at Cyprus.

Mertesacker last played for Germany in July's World Cup semifinal loss to Italy. He then had heel surgery and missed several months.

"Per has been a pillar of the team for the past two years," Loew said Thursday. "After his long break, he's been consistent again in his performances in the Champions League and the Bundesliga."

A new face for AmericaLoew said Mertesacker would be given lighter training after Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf pleaded unsuccessfully for the player to be left out because he is not fully fit.

But Loew has a long list of injuries absentees, including strikers Lukas Podolski and Gerald Asamoah, defenders Robert Huth and Christoph Metzelder, and midfielders Sebastian Kehl and Tim Borowski.

Germany has three wins in three qualifying games in Group D, which is led by the Czech Republic with one game in hand.

Loew has won all five of his games since taking over from Juergen Klinsmann after the World Cup.

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Squad:

Goalkeepers: Jens Lehmann (Arsenal), Timo Hildebrand (Stuttgart).

Defenders: Malik Fathi (Hertha Berlin), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Manuel Friedrich (Mainz), Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen).

Midfielders: Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen), Thomas Hitzlsperger (Stuttgart), David Odonkor (Real Betis), Bernd Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburger SV).

Forwards: Mike Hanke (Wolfsburg), Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen), Oliver Neuville (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Jan Schlaudraff (Alemannia Aachen).