No place for Ballack

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Germany captain Michael Ballack has been left out of Joachim Loew's squad to face Italy on Wednesday.

The 34-year-old missed his country's 2010 World Cup campaign with an ankle problem before fracturing his leg in September.

He returned for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen in January, but Loew was in no hurry to rush the midfielder back into the national squad for the friendly.

"I am happy Michael is back after the two injuries. He looks to be finding his rhythm. But we both know it will take some more time," Loew said.

Germany host the Azzurri in Dortmund, with Philipp Lahm expected to wear the captain's armband in Ballack's absence.

Germany squad: Manuel Neuer (Schalke), Rene Adler (Bayer Leverkusen), Dennis Aogo (Hamburg), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich), Jerome Boateng (Manchester City), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Arne Friedrich(Wolfsburg), Heiko Westermann (Hamburg), Marcel Schmelzer (Borussia Dortmund), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Mesut Oezil (Real Madrid), Christian Traesch (Stuttgart), Mario Goetze (Borussia Dortmund), Sven Bender (Borussia Dortmund), Kevin Grosskreutz (Borussia Dortmund), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich), Thomas Mueller (Bayern Munich), Lukas Podolski (Cologne).

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