Löw caps Germany's rising stars

Germany manager Joachim Löw is to name five youngsters from the Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund and second-placed Mainz 05 in his squad for next week's friendly in Sweden.

A day before he was to officially announce the squad for Wednesday's game, Löw confirmed that Andre Schürrle and Lewis Holtby, who have helped Mainz to their best Bundesliga start, would be named. "Mainz players Schürrle and Holtby, as well as Dortmund's Mario Götze, Mats Hummels and Kevin Grosskreutz will for sure be there," he said.

Dortmund lead the Bundesliga with 28 points from 11 games, four ahead of Mainz with the traditional German powerhouses of Bayern Munich, Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 all struggling.

Hummels, 21, and Grosskreutz, 22, have one cap each, while the 20-year-olds Holtby and Schürrle and the 18-year-old Götze have yet to feature for Germany.

"All these players have played very well for a long period of time this season," said Löw. "I am convinced they can make the leap on to the big international stage. The old argument that you have to perform for two or three years before earning a call-up does not count for me. It can also happen after a few weeks and age does not matter."

Löw fielded Germany's youngest World Cup team in 76 years last summer, with an average age of under 25, as they finished third.

South Africa, the hosts, who went out at the group stage, have a friendly against the United States next week and coach Pitso Mosimane has called up the Leeds striker Davide Somma, who emigrated from South Africa to the US as a child. It will be a first cap for Somma, 25, who has scored seven goals in league and cup this season, and was handed a new three-year contract by United last week.

He was born in Johannesburg but moved to California aged 12. Somma, who also holds an Italian passport, played with San Jose Earthquakes before joining the Championship side.

Mosimane named two other uncapped players for the match in Cape Town: the teenaged defender Siyanda Xulu, who was on trial at Arsenal last month, and the midfielder Matthew Pattison, previously of Newcastle United and now on the books of the South African league leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.

There is also a return to the squad for Steven Pienaar of Everton and the Fulham midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi.