ACBerb
Mar 4 2005, 07:20 PM
MUNICH, Germany (AP) - Markus Babbel, who spent a year paralyzed by a rare nerve disease, was named Friday in a list of candidates who could make Germany's 2006 World Cup team.
Babbel, staging a comeback with VfB Stuttgart this year, was among 34 players named by Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann to take a World Cup fitness test on March 22 and 23.
The list reflects Klinsmann's candidates to make the World Cup team 15 months before the event is hosted by Germany. It includes several unexpected names, including Liverpool's Dietmar Hamann and Dortmund defender Sebastian Kehl.
Babbel's career appeared over when he contracted Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare inflammation of the nervous system, putting him in a wheelchair.
But the 32-year-old former Liverpool and Bayern Munich player has fought his way back to become a key defender for Stuttgart this season.
"It impresses us how he worked his way back after his severe illness and has become an important pillar by VfB Stuttgart," Klinsmann said. "He'll surely improve more up to the World Cup next year and therefore belongs to the pool of possible candidates."
Babbel played his 51st and last cap on June 17, 2000, as Germany was beaten by England 1-0 in a European Championships qualifying match. He was a member of the 1996 Euro Champions team captained by Klinsmann.
Hamann, once a stalwart of Germany, hasn't received a callup since the country's disastrous first-round exit at Euro 2004. Klinsmann, named to his post shortly after the debacle, has rebuilt the squad with young players.
He warned the Liverpool midfielder that the youth movement was likely to continue for some time.
For a match against Slovenia a few days after the fitness test, the coach will call up only 20 players.
"He was one of the experienced players I talked too immediately," Klinsmann said. "I told him at the time that he won't be named in the next months, that looking at the World Cup, we want to test young players to see their possibilities. We will follow this course for the next matches."
Kehl, a Borussia Dortmund defender, and Moenchengladbach forward Oliver Neuville were two other Germany players who hadn't received a callup by Klinsmann named to the pool.
The coach also named four injured players who won't take part in the fitness test to his list: Stuttgart's Philipp Lahm, Bayern's Andreas Goerlitz, Leverkusen's Jens Nowotny and Dortmund's Christoph Metzfelder.
During the fitness tests, American specialists will test the players to see if they have shown progress in areas like flexibility and speed since they were last measured.
Babbel, staging a comeback with VfB Stuttgart this year, was among 34 players named by Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann to take a World Cup fitness test on March 22 and 23.
The list reflects Klinsmann's candidates to make the World Cup team 15 months before the event is hosted by Germany. It includes several unexpected names, including Liverpool's Dietmar Hamann and Dortmund defender Sebastian Kehl.
Babbel's career appeared over when he contracted Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare inflammation of the nervous system, putting him in a wheelchair.
But the 32-year-old former Liverpool and Bayern Munich player has fought his way back to become a key defender for Stuttgart this season.
"It impresses us how he worked his way back after his severe illness and has become an important pillar by VfB Stuttgart," Klinsmann said. "He'll surely improve more up to the World Cup next year and therefore belongs to the pool of possible candidates."
Babbel played his 51st and last cap on June 17, 2000, as Germany was beaten by England 1-0 in a European Championships qualifying match. He was a member of the 1996 Euro Champions team captained by Klinsmann.
Hamann, once a stalwart of Germany, hasn't received a callup since the country's disastrous first-round exit at Euro 2004. Klinsmann, named to his post shortly after the debacle, has rebuilt the squad with young players.
He warned the Liverpool midfielder that the youth movement was likely to continue for some time.
For a match against Slovenia a few days after the fitness test, the coach will call up only 20 players.
"He was one of the experienced players I talked too immediately," Klinsmann said. "I told him at the time that he won't be named in the next months, that looking at the World Cup, we want to test young players to see their possibilities. We will follow this course for the next matches."
Kehl, a Borussia Dortmund defender, and Moenchengladbach forward Oliver Neuville were two other Germany players who hadn't received a callup by Klinsmann named to the pool.
The coach also named four injured players who won't take part in the fitness test to his list: Stuttgart's Philipp Lahm, Bayern's Andreas Goerlitz, Leverkusen's Jens Nowotny and Dortmund's Christoph Metzfelder.
During the fitness tests, American specialists will test the players to see if they have shown progress in areas like flexibility and speed since they were last measured.