By Erik Kirschbaum
BERLIN, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Germany coach Joachim Loew will have injury doubt Bastian Schweinsteiger in his lineup for the showdown for first place in Euro 2008 qualifying Group D against the Czech Republic in Munich on Wednesday.
But he will be missing injured captain Michael Ballack, suspended goalkeeper Jens Lehmann and other leading players. He will also have to counter complacency after Germany became the first team to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals with Saturday's 0-0 draw in Ireland.
Midfielder Schweinsteiger left the field in the 18th minute with a bleeding forehead after a collision and his creativity was sorely missed. Loew said his wound was healing well.
Lehmann had an outstanding match against Ireland, keeping his clean sheet with several second-half saves but picked up a second yellow card for wasting time.
The Czech Republic need a win to be mathematically sure of finishing ahead of Ireland and Cyprus, who play each other in Dublin.
Germany won 2-1 in Prague in March and have 23 points from nine matches followed by the Czechs on 20 from nine and Ireland on 15 from 10. Fourth-placed Slovakia are out with 13 points from 10 matches while Cyprus on 13 from nine could still finish second.
"We want to win and give the fans a good show," Loew told a news conference. "The biggest danger is if anyone thinks they can let up now that we've qualified."
Loew will put Lukas Podolski, who has struggled to get playing time at Bayern Munich, back in the attack next to Kevin Kuranyi, who was anonymous in Dublin. Podolski sparkled in the final half hour after he replaced the ineffective Mario Gomez.
Also missing for Germany are injured striker Miroslav Klose, midfielder Bernd Schneider and defender Philipp Lahm.
The Czechs have woes of their own. They will be without wing back Marek Jankulovski, defensive midfielder Jan Polak and striker Milan Baros due to suspension.
Captain Tomas Rosicky is doubtful with a thigh injury but coach Karel Brueckner said he was confident the playmaker would be available.
"Germany will be a far, far more attacking team than in Ireland. There they fell into line to meet a single aim (qualifying) and they fulfilled it," Brueckner said.
The Czechs need three points from their last three matches to be sure of qualifying.
Probable teams:
Germany: Timo Hildebrand; Arne Friedrich, Per Mertesacker, Christoph Metzelder, Marcell Jansen; Torsten Frings, Clemens Fritz, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Piotr Trochowski; Kevin Kuranyi, Lukas Podolski.
Czech Republic: Petr Cech; Tomas Ujfalusi, Radoslav Kovac, David Rozehnal, Tomas Zapotocny; Libor Sionko, Tomas Galasek, Tomas Rosicky (or Marek Matejovsky), Jaroslav Plasil; Jan Koller, Marek Kulic.
(Additional reporting by Dusan Bucanek in Prague)
((Editing by Clare Lovell, London Sports Desk; Reuters messaging: clare.lovell.reuters.com@reuters.net; +44 20 7542 7933. For the latest Reuters Premier League and international football news see: http://football.uk.reuters.com))
Keywords: SOCCER EURO/GERMANY
