Klinsmann is and will remain captain: Vogts

Vogts said he was convinced that the two, who squabbled when they played together at Bayern, would get on well.

"It’s clear that Lothar and him (Klinsmann) are not the best of friends,"Vogts said. "But the most important thing is for the team to be successful. I told both of them that and they understood."

The 37-year-old Matthaeus, who earned the last of his record 122 caps in December 1994, will play in his fifth World Cup finals after 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1994.

Vogts had been under pressure to recall Matthaeus since Olaf Thon damaged ligaments in his right ankle last month. Thon, whobecame Vogts’ first choice for the Libero slot after Matthias Sammer underwent career-threatening knee surgery last October, said he should be fit in time for the finals, and is also in the squad.

"With Matthias Sammer’s injury and Olaf Thon’s problems, I had to ask myself what would happen if Thon was not fit," Vogts said. "It was too risky (to rely only on Thon for the Libero slot) and Lothar has had a great season with Bayern," Vogts said.

Sammer, still struggling to recover, is not chosen and nor is Bayern midfielder Mario Basler, also nursing a knee injury.

The 33-year-old Klinsmann, who appeared to have recaptured his best form in his last two outings with Tottenham, said he would not object to Matthaeus’ return.

Klinsmann, who will retire from international football after the World Cup, is one of four strikers in the squad with Oliver Bierhoff, Ulf Kirsten and Olaf Marschall.

The squad is a mixture of players who have seen it all before, such as Klinsmann, Juergen Kohler and Andreas Moeller,and of young talents such as Bayern midfielder Dietmar Hamann and his TSV 1860 Munich counterpart Jens Jeremies.

Eleven players on the list were members of the squad who won the 1996 European championship in England. Nine of the 22 were at the 1994 World Cup finals in the United States, where Germany were knocked out by Bulgaria in the quarter-finals.

Vogts picked three goalkeepers with Bayern Munich’s Oliver Kahn and Schalke 04’s Jens Lehmann accompanying first choice Andreas Koepke of Olympique Marseille.

A cautious Vogts named an extra list of 13 players on standby, who could still make it into the squad if injuries occurred.

MATTHAEUS DELIGHTED: Lothar Matthaeus is delighted he’s had to cancel his summer holiday this year.

He may be unpopular among team-mates and the German public, but head coach Bertie Vogts has blown the final whistle on a long-lasting squabble between the two men by recalling him.

Matthaeus said a few months ago that he had lost almost all hope of playing in theWorld Cup Finals and had already booked a trip to a sunny spot.

Matthaeus, who has never hidden his disappointment at being left out of his country’s triumphant Euro ’96 squad, earned the last of his record 122 caps in December 1994. The kind of class he has displayed while marshalling the Bayern defence this season suggests he could get a few more on French pitches from June 10 to July 12.

Vogts, once clearly irritated by Matthaeus’ constant criticism of Juergen Klinsmann, also talked to his captain last week. The Tottenham striker said afterwards he would not object to Matthaeus’ return. "I have no problems with Matthaeus the football player," Klinsmann said in a subtle reference implying his former team mate at Bayern was still not his best friend.

TEAM: Juergen Klinsmann, Oliver Bierhoff, Christian Ziege, Stefan Reuter, Thomas Haessler, Andreas Moeller, Ulf Kirsten, Olaf Marschall, Thomas Helmer, Lothar Matthaeus, Oliver Kahn, Andreas Koepke, Jens Lehman, Olaf Thon, Joerg Heinrich, JensJeremies, Steffen Freund, Christian Woerns, Dietmar Hamann, Michael Tarnat, Jeurgen Kohler, Markus Babbel. Berti Vogts (coach), Rainer Bonhof (co-coach), Sepp Maier (goal keeper coach).