Schneider back as Germany captain

BERLIN, Germany -- Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Bernd Schneider has been recalled to the Germany side for the friendly match against Romanian in Cologne on Wednesday -- and has also been handed the captain's armband by coach Joachim Loew.

Bayern Munich striker Miroslav Klose captained the side, scoring twice in the process, in Saturday's 2-0 win in Wales -- but Loew has made Schneider captain after he missed the Euro 2008 qualifier through suspension.

Schneider, 33, who will be winning his 80th cap against Romania, will be paired alongside Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger -- who won the man-of-the-match award for his performance in Cardiff.

Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann will makes way for Valencia's Timo Hildebrand -- who will be given the full 90 minutes according to Loew.

But the 28-year-old, who won his first cap against Romania in 2004, will be hoping for a better result than his debut when Germany lost 5-1 in Bucharest.

Bayern Leverkusen's Simon Rolfes and Stuttgart's Thomas Hitzlsperger will be alongside Schneider and Schweinsteiger in midfield.

"Those two were outstanding against Wales and so we are playing them in the midfield again, Bastian's talents we know all about for the future," said Loew.

Bayern Munich's former Cologne striker Lukas Podolski has now fully recovered from his knee injury and will partner current Cologne forward Patrick Helmes up front.

"Kevin Kuranyi and Klose are in outstanding form, but Podolski and Helmes are young talents, Cologne is like their living room, so I want to give them the chance to shine," added Loew.

"After his injury break, Lukas needs time to get back to the form he was in last year and hopefully this game will help."

The Germans warm-up for next month's important Euro 2008 qualifiers against the Republic of Ireland and the Czech Republic by taking on a Romanian side who are unbeaten in Group G.

Germany have a five-point lead at the top of Group D and wins over the Irish in Dublin and the Czechs in Munich will almost guarantee them a place at Euro 2008. E-mail to a friend