Germany crushes Luxembourg

World Cup host got over the absence of Michael Ballack and crush Luxembourg 7-0 in Freiburg on Saturday as part of their preparations.

Strikers Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski and Oliver Neuville all grabbed a couple of goals to raise the feel-good factor in Jurgen Klinsmann's Germany team.

The captain Michael Ballack missed the friendly, still nursing a strained ankle from Thursday's workout against Servette Geneva's under-18s.

But there were some more bad news with an ankle injury to Robert Huth. The Chelsea defender was replaced at half-time by Per Mertesacker.