Germany axe inexperienced trio from squad

Germany coach Joachim Loew left out the inexperienced trio of Marko Marin, Jermaine Jones and Patrick Helmes when he named his final 23-man squad for Euro 2008 on Wednesday.

Marin, the 19-year-old Borussia Moenchengladbach winger, had yet to win his first cap when he was named to Loew's provisional squad earlier this month, while Schalke midfielder Jones and Cologne striker Helmes had played just five times between them.

"All three of the players did fantastically well in training and would have taken well earned places in the squad," coach Loew said in a statement released by the German Football Association.

Marin made his debut for Germany in their 2-2 draw with Belarus in a friendly international on Tuesday. They next face Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on May 31 before leaving for Switzerland.

Loew's team are in Group B with co-hosts Austria, Poland and Croatia.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Jens Lehmann (Arsenal), Robert Enke (Hanover 96), Rene Adler (Bayer Leverkusen)

Defenders: Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Marcell Jansen (Bayern Munich), Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen), Heiko Westermann (Schalke 04)

Midfielders: Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Thomas Hitzlsperger (VfB Stuttgart), Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg SV), Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen), David Odonkor (Real Betis)

Forwards: Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich), Mario Gomez (VfB Stuttgart), Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke 04), Oliver Neuville (Borussia Moenchengladbach)