Germany’s head coach Joachim Loew dropped forward Patrick Helmes and midfielders Jermaine Jones and Marko Marin from his Euro 2008 squad on Wednesday. All three played in Tuesday’s friendly match versus Belarus. Germany ended tied with the Belarussians 2-2. Germany opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a goal from Miroslav Klose. It was his 39th international goal. An own goal gifted by Belarus allowed Die Nationalelf to enter the locker room up 2-0 at the half. Belarussian Vitali Bulyga tied the match in the second half with two goals. Afterwards, the three players were informed of their exclusion from the Euro 2008 roster.
Helmes was the one-time captain at FC Köln and he helped the club gain promotion into the Bundesliga for 2008-2009. He has since signed with Bayer Leverkusen. He scored 35 goals with Köln. Midfielder Jones plays for FC Schalke 04. He is of American descent as his father was an US soldier stationed in Germany. Winger Marko Marin is Germany’s newest teenage sensation. He played last season with newly promoted Borussia Mönchengladbach. The three players have a combined 8 caps.
Germany faces Serbia on Saturday in their final warm-up and then begins tournament play against Poland on June 8th.