Joachim Low will not be taking experienced midfielder Torsten Frings to the World Cup.
Germany coach not taking Werder Bremen midfielder to World Cup
Germany coach Joachim Low has revealed that he will not be taking experienced midfielder Torsten Frings to the World Cup.
The Werder Bremen ace met with Low on Wednesday with the national team manager explaining that he wanted to lower the average age of his squad.
The 33-year-old has 79 caps to his name already and is a veteran of two World Cups with Germany finishing runners-up in 2002 and third in 2006.
However the former Bayern Munich man has not represented his country since a 1-0 defeat to Norway in February 2009 and Low was quick to point out that Frings would not be the only disappointed player in the coming weeks.
"These upcoming weeks should be filled with important decisions. We'll deal in a very upfront way with our players," he said.
"They will know who's part of our plans and who is not. We owed this personal discussion to Torsten as he has made such a vital contribution to our team for years.
"We can understand his disappointment with our opinion. But we have not taken the decision lightly.
Younger squad
"We have in our extended squad many young players who will fill requirements and who have very good prospects for the 2010 World Cup.
"We want to now introduce younger players to the level of the international stage, because we are convinced by them and have a big responsibility for their further sporting development."
Frings, who has been a regular for Bremen this season, confessed the decision had not come as a total surprise but added that he felt he could still do a job in South Africa.
"This is certainly not coming fully out of the blue. I had to be prepared for this kind of news if looking at all recent aspects," he said in a statement.
"I have nothing left to do than accept this, even though my viewpoint on this is totally different than Joachim Low's is.
"I still believe I have potential to be a strong performer at a World Cup tournament. And I am going to show this in the Bundesliga as I did all the way (through my career)."
