Coach Joachim Loew yesterday selected seven players from Champions League finalists Bayern Munich for the Germany World Cup squad including recalling veteran goalkeeper Hans-Joerg Butt.
Loew has opted to take Bayern's rising stars, forward Thomas Mueller and uncapped 21-year-old defender Holger Badstuber, along with Butt, who turns 36 at the end of the month, from Munich.
Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack will captain the side in South Africa and is just two caps from making his 100th appearance for Germany.
There is no place in the squad for Lazio midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger, while Bayer Leverkusen pair goalkeeper Rene Adler and midfielder Simon Rolfes are missing with injury.
Germany face warm-up games against Malta in Aachen next Thursday, Hungary in Budapest on May 29 and Bosnia-Herzegovina in Frankfurt on June 3.
With Werder Bremen facing Bayern Munich in the German Cup final on May 15, Ballack, whose Chelsea team faces Portsmouth in the FA Cup final the same day, and the Bremen players will join the Germany squad in Sicily after May 15.
The seven from Bayern will join the national squad in their second training camp in the southern Tyrol Alps after the Champions League final on May 22 against Inter in Madrid.
Germany have drawn Australia, Ghana and Serbia in Group D for the World Cup .
Loew has also named a separate group of five fringe players for next week's warm-up game with Malta.
They include goalkeeper Tobias Sippel (Kaiserslautern), Mats Hummel, Kevin Grosskreutz (Borussia Dortmund), Stefan Reinartz (Bayer Leverkusen) and Marco Reus (Borussia M'gladbach).
Malta preparations
Meanwhile, Malta coach John Buttigieg will be stepping up the squad's preparations for the Germany friendly over the next few days. The conclusion of the 2009-10 Premier League campaign on Wednesday means that the players in Buttigieg's squad can start to focus exclusively on Thursday's warm-up.
Daniel Bogdanovic, the Barnsley forward, was due to train with his Malta team-mates yesterday while goalkeeper Justin Haber, who plays for Hungarian side Ferencvaros, and AS Melfi defender Andrei Agius are also poised to receive a call-up for the Germany match.
Buttigieg is expected to name his final 18-man list on Monday.
Germany Squad
Goalkeepers: Neuer (Schalke 04), Wiese (Werder Bremen), Butt (Bayern Munich).
Defenders: Aogo (Hamburg), Boateng (Hamburg), Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Lahm (Bayern Munich), Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Jansen (Hamburg), Tasci (VfB Stuttgart), Badstuber (Bayern Munich), Westermann (Schalke 04), Beck (Hoffenheim).
Midfielders: Ballack (Chelsea), Marin, Oezil (both Werder Bremen), Trochowski (Hamburg), Khedira, Traesch (both Stuttgart), Kroos (Bayer Leverkusen), Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich).
Forwards: Cacau (Stuttgart), Gomez, Klose, Mueller (all Bayern Munich), Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen), Podolski (Cologne).