BERLIN (AP) Mario Gomez will start up front for Germany against England in Saturday's friendly, with coach Joachim Loew planning to start Mario Goetze against Italy in Munich three days later.
Gomez, who was omitted from Germany's World Cup-winning squad in 2014 due to fitness concerns following injury, is being given a chance to earn his place at the European Championship in France after an impressive season for Besiktas. Gomez has 19 goals in 26 Turkish league games.
''He's improved a lot. You can see it in every training session. You can see that he's gathered more confidence.