Uruguay vs Germany – teams announced
Published:Germany have made four changes – including the shock omission of Miroslav Klose – to their side ahead of their third-place play-off with Uruguay, which kicks off at 7.30pm.
Although he was struggling with his fitness, Klose was expected to start because of his quest for a historic goalscoring double.
He is 9/2 to win the Golden Shoe and two goals away from becoming the leading World Cup goalscorer of all-time, but he will have to try fulfilling such a dream from the bench.
Lukas Podolski is also relegated to the sidelines as Joachim Low experiments with his German side. Bastian Schweinsteiger captains the side in the absence of the injured Philipp Lahm.
Schweinsteiger and Mesut Ozil have personal incentives to perform against Uruguay, as they have been shortlisted for the Golden Ball.
Thomas Muller, meanwhile, is one of three candidates to for the young player of the tournament award, and he is 6/1 to mark his return from suspension with the first goal tonight.
Uruguay striker Diego Forlan has been passed fit, and he is 6/1 to add to his four World Cup goals by opening the scoring.
Forlan will be joined in attack by Luis Suarez, who missed the South Americans’ semi-final defeat to Holland with suspension. Suarez is 8/1 to score first.
The confirmed starting line-ups:
Uruguay: Muslera; M. Pereira, Godin, Lugano (Captain), Fucile; Arevalo, Perez, Caceres; Cavani, Suarez, Forlan
Germany: Butt; Aogo, Mertesacker, Friedrich, Boateng; Khedira, Schweinsteiger; Muller, Ozil, Jansen; Cacau
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