Germany | VS
| Brazil |
| Date/Time: | Aug 10, 2011, 6:45 pm(GMT) |
| Competition: | Friendly |
| Live/Repeat: | Live |
Germany vs Brazil Preview
Germany coach Joachim Low is looking forward to seeing Mario Gotze in action on Wednesday night when his side take on Brazil in a friendly in Stuttgart.
Gotze was in fine form for Borussia Dortmund in their 3-1 victory over Hamburg in the German Bundesliga on Friday night with Germany legend Franz Beckenbauer likening him to Lionel Messi.
Low confirmed on Tuesday that the 19-year-old will probably be in his starting XI against Brazil and all eyes will be on the talented youngster, whose skills would not look out of place in the opposition.
"He is amazing with the ball," said Low. "For his age, he is already very advanced.
"He finds good solutions and has an eye for his team-mates, but his development is not over yet."
Gotze will pick up his seventh cap on Wednesday night in a game Low will be using mainly to gauge the progress made by his younger players ahead of the remaining Euro 2012 qualifiers against Austria, Turkey and Belgium.
"I will try to use all of my substitutions, but this depends on how the game goes," he said.
"We want to use this game to develop more as a team and bring some of our young hopefuls up to international level."
However, that does not mean that the result is secondary.
"We want to win," said midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.
"We have not done that (against Brazil) for a while. We are looking forward to the game a lot - it is a great challenge because Brazil have many talented individuals."
The Brazil squad named by Mano Menezes may not be as full of household names as it was at the Copa America, but after the disappointment of their early elimination from that tournament, the Selecao is in the midst of a revolution.
That does not make them any easier to beat, though, according to Schweinsteiger.
"They have many players with a lot of quality and (chief scout) Urs Siegenthaler will tell us all we need to know about those we don't know yet," he said.
Lucas Leiva is suspended for Brazil while David Luiz has a knee injury.
All eyes will be on the likes of Neymar and Ganso, who have already attracted the attention of several top clubs in Europe.
"Our youngsters need to mature and games like this are the best opportunities for them to do that," said Menezes.
"They don't get the same amount of room to play in internationally as they do in Brazil, therefore they will have to learn how to deal with that.
"The only way they can do that is when they are put under pressure."
