Bierhoff drops Kuranyi hint

Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff hinted Saturday that rebel striker Kevin Kuranyi could be set for a shock recall to the national side in time for this June's 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

Kuranyi has not played for Germany since walking out on the team in October 2008 after being left out of the matchday squad for a World Cup qualifier, prompting coach Joachim Low to declare he would never pick him again. However Kuranyi's 18 goals for Schalke 04 has forced Loew into a re-think.

Ahead of the weekend's Bundesliga games Kuranyi is joint second in the league scoring charts behind Wolfsburg's Edin Dzeko, and Bierhoff admits a shock U-turn announcement could be expected by the end of the month.

"I think we would lose neither face nor credibility if we reconsider things: in this case, the previous conduct of Kevin Kuranyi."

Oliver Bierhoff on opening the door for the in-form striker

"We are grateful to have players in great shape," Bierhoff told Cologne newspaper the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger. "I think we would lose neither face nor credibility if we reconsider things: in this case, the previous conduct of Kevin Kuranyi. If Joachim Low decides, for good sporting reasons, that Kevin Kuranyi can help the side, he will make that decision away from outside influences."

Low has said he will announce his World Cup squad on May 6, but a decision about whether 28-year-old Kuranyi will be welcomed back into the squad is expected on April 29.

Low's first-choice strikers Miroslav Klose of Bayern Munich and Cologne's Lukas Podolski have scored just four goals between them all season.

The FIFA World Cup, in which Germany finished third in 2006, will be held in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July.

Parreira: Too early to determine progress

South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira believes it is too early to assess how much progress South Africa have made in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

The Brazilian boss has put his players through three days of drills and physical work in the early stages of their nearly three-week training camp in southern Germany.

"We cannot tell you (about any improvements). It is only after games that we can see progress. It's a process. And we will know more after one, two or three games," Parreira said at the team's hotel in Herzogenaurach.

"We should be physically very keen and at the highest level. We need to be a fighting team."

South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira

South Africa hope to play three friendly matches during their stay in Germany, the biggest being a match against China on 28 April.

Parreira said he and the South African teams bosses have worked hard in lining up more friendly matches, but to little avail.

"We need these friendly games. Of course if we could play Brazil, Germany or England it would be better. And it would be better to get a match against a Bundesliga team. But I have tried since December. Nobody is willing to play one game at this time," he said.

The coach reiterated that his emphasis during this training camp will be to bring his side into top physical shape.

"We should be physically very keen and at the highest level. We need to be a fighting team. And we have to emphasize our strengths. We are good when we put the ball on the ground. We can't think about contact, we have to stress ball movement and tactics," said Parreira.

The former FIFA World Cup winner believes about 14 or 15 players of the 25-man squad in Herzogenaurach will make the team for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

And he hopes to use the current camp to build upon the month-long session in Brazil to form a foundation for the team. And then after the European leagues are completed, his European-based players can come in and fit into the side.

"In Brazil and here we are defining the shape. And the players from overseas will fit into the shape," said the coach.

"We want to get the foundation set and then have the others come in and fit into the shape. If the foundation is solid, we are not worried," he said.

A problem Parreira does see is that many of the foreign-based players are not earning a lot of playing time. And that may pose a challenge come mid-May when they join the other players who have worked in camp since early March.

"It is not ideal. Those coming later will maybe play three games. The others had nine games in Brazil and three here plus the remaining three. And the overseas guys will only play at most three games. So having a player not playing for six months is a headache," he said.