Draxler, Bender make Germany squad

Julian Draxler and Sven Bender have been added to 17 members of Germany's UEFA EURO 2012 squad to face Argentina in an international friendly next week. Both Draxler and Bender were in coach Joachim Low's preliminary squad for the Euros before being left out of the final 23-man selection, but both have now returned to the 19-man selection, which contains no surprises. Captain Philipp Lahm has been left out as his wife is due to give birth, while Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Gomez are both injured. Arsenal due Lukas Podolski and Per Mertesacker have also been left out due to the imminent start of the Premier League season. "The Premier League starts just three days after this game in Frankfurt so it is more important right now for Per, who was injured for a long time, and Lukas, who is fighting for his place as a newcomer, to be able to prepare for their upcoming tasks with their club," said Low. Manuel Neuer and Rob-Robert Zieler are the only two goalkeepers in the squad with new Hoffenheim signing Tim Wiese left out. His exclusion indicates the end of the 30-year-old's international career. "(Assistant coach) Hansi Flick and I had a lengthy discussion with Tim in Hoffenheim today and we informed him that, as part of our plans for the World Cup qualifiers, we want to focus more on younger goalkeepers," said Germany's goalkeeper coach Andreas Kopke. "That does not mean that he has been written off, though." Germany host Argentina in Frankfurt next Wednesday with a sell-out crowd of 48,000 expected for their first match since their EURO 2012 semi-final defeat to Italy. Germany squad: Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Ron-Robert Zieler (Hannover) Defenders: Holger Badstuber, Jerome Boateng (both Bayern Munich), Mats Hummels, Marcel Schmelzer (both Borussia Dortmund), Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkusen), Benedikt Howedes (Schalke) Midfielders: Sven Bender, Mario Gotze, Ilkay Gundogan, Marco Reus (all Borussia Dortmund), Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller (both Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira (both Real Madrid), Julian Draxler (Schalke) Forwards: Miroslav Klose (Lazio) From: FIFA