Berlin: Germany host Paraguay in Wednesday’s friendly with head coach Joachim Loew looking to fine-tune his side for next month’s World Cup qualifiers on the road to Brazil 2014.

Loew has named a powerful squad with nine players from European champions Bayern Munich and Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern’s star midfielders Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Goetze, who are both regaining fitness after injury, are the only noticable absentee as Loew looks to prepare for September’s qualifiers against Austria and the Faroe Islands.

Schalke’s teenage attacking midfielder Julian Draxler was forced out on Sunday after injuring his Achilles tendon in the 3-3 Bundesliga draw with Hamburg.

“We’re really looking forward to the game,” said Germany manager Oliver Bierhoff ahead of the friendly in Kaiserslautern with the hosts ranked second in the world and Paraguay are 49th.

“It’s our first match of a season which will finish with the World Cup and we want to play with renewed enthusiasm.

“The match is important for everyone with a view towards the important qualifiers in September against Austria and the Faroe Islands.

“We want to qualify as quickly as possible and our match against Paraguay is a step towards that goal.”

Germany are five points clear at the top of Group C in the European World Cup qualifying pool and two wins next month will leave Loew’s team on course to book their Brazil 2014 berth in October’s away matches in Sweden and the Republic of Ireland.

Paraguay are out of the running in the South American qualifying group as they are bottom of the table.

Coached by Victor Genes, Paraguay return to Kaiserslautern’s Fritz Walter Stadium where they enjoyed a victory over Trinidad and Tobago at the 2006 World Cup.

Genes has called up 15 foreign-based players in his 21-man squad, the most interesting name being Barcelona’s 17-year-old forward Antonio Sanabria, who has risen through his country’s junior teams and wins his first selection for the senior side.

Sanabria’s teammate from the Paraguay Under-20 side, Jorge Rojas, is also on the plane to Germany and the Benfica winger has considerable pace.

Notable absentees include ex-Borussia Dortmund striker Lucas Barrios, who has just completed a move from China’s Guangzhou Evergrande to Russia’s Spartak Moscow as Genes favours youth over experience.

Loew has named two strikers in his squad in Fiorentina’s Mario Gomez and Lazio’s Miroslav Klose.

The 35-year-old Klose is on 67 goals for his country, just one short of Gerd Mueller’s astonishing record of 68 goals in 62 games for West Germany from 1966-74.

Both Dortmund midfielders Ilkay Gundogan and Marco Reus sat out training on Monday as a precautionary measure.

Gundogan had a sore back while fleet-footed winger Reus, who scored twice in Germany’s 4-1 win over Kazakhstan in March, has a light cold, but both are expected to train with the team on Tuesday.