Germany head coach Joachim Loew on Tuesday (17th May) named a preliminary squad of 27 players for the European Championship in France

SOUNDBITE: (German) Joachim Loew, Germany head coach:

"This can help us if maybe a single important player drops out, like Ilkay Gundogan for example, so we can compensate that problem. Because we simply believe that the collective is more important than any individual player. And so we have put together the team following that criteria."

SOUNDBITE: (German) Joachim Loew, Germany head coach

(on captain Bastian Schweinsteiger):

"It is hard to say today (whether Schweinsteiger will be ready for the first game), because I first want to see how he can train until May 31st. Obviously it also depends from whether his knee holds, if he will have some problems, some after effects, is he really fully able to cope with a heavy workload? And then we need to assess if he should work more at the start of the tournament."

SOUNDBITE: (German) Joachim Loew, Germany head coach

(on striker Lukas Podolski):

"He (Podolski) still has a sporting value for the team, even if someone refuses to accept it. This year he played a very respectable season in Turkey, has played many many games, scores some goals. He is physically in a good shape and Lukas is also a character who can give a lot to the team, who can give a lot to a group and this combination is still important and I know that Lukas can still give us the performance we expect from him."