Olympic medallists named in Germany squad
REUTERS - Germany coach Joachim Loew has named three of the country's Olympic silver medal-winning team in his squad for games against Finland and Norway.
Schalke's Max Meyer was included after captaining the Germany side defeated by Brazil in a penalty shootout in the final of the men's soccer event at the Maracana on Aug. 20.
Hoffenheim's Niklas Suele received his first international call-up and Julian Brandt of Bayer Leverkusen also made the cut.
Germany meet Finland in a friendly in Moenchengladbach on Aug. 31 before facing Norway in Oslo on Sep. 4 as they begin their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.
The first fixture will serve as a farewell match for 120-cap midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who announced his international retirement following Germany's Euro 2016 semi-final elimination by hosts France.
Forward Lukas Podolski also confirmed his decision to retire from international duty this month but has an ankle injury and will have his own farewell match at a later date.
Germany squad: Goalkeepers: Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)
Defence: Emre Can (Liverpool), Jonas Hector (FC Koln), Benedikt Hoewedes (Schalke), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia), Niklas Suele (Hoffenheim), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)
Midfield: Karim Bellarabi (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (VfL Wolfsburg), Sami Khedira (Juventus), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Max Meyer (Schalke), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Mesut Oezil (Arsenal), Andre Schuerrle (Borussia Dortmund), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United), Julian Weigl (Borussia Dortmund)
Attack: Mario Goezte (Borussia Dortmund), Kevin Volland (Bayer Leverkusen)
(Reporting by Ed Dove, editing by Ed Osmond)