Schweinsteiger on spot for Germany after Podolski miss

ERASMIA - Bastian Schweinsteiger will take Germany’s next penalty at the World Cup after Lukas Podolski failed from the spot against Serbia, coach Joachim Loew has indicated.

Loew said he was considering who should take the penalties and “it could well be that Schweinsteiger takes the next one.”

The Bayern Munich midfielder scored twice from the spot in Germany’s 3-1 pre-World Cup friendly match against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Podolski’s shot was saved by Serbia keeper Vladimir Stojkovic in the 1-0 Group D defeat Friday in Port Elizabeth.

However, the Cologne player had scored the last four times from the penalty spot for Germany, including one in the shoot-out with Argentina in the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup.

Loew did not intervene after the penalty was awarded against Serbia, leaving it up to the two designated penalty takers to decide between them who would take the spot kick.

“Both are very sure penalty takers. I want players who take on responsibility. Lukas took the responsibility and that was good. He didn’t score, and that was bad luck,” Loew said.

The coach gathered all his 23 players, assistant coaches and fitness staff for a team talk lasting more than five minutes before a training Sunday at the team’s base near Pretoria.

Germany will probably need to beat group leaders Ghana Wednesday in Johannesburg to reach the last 16, although a draw might be enough depending on the outcome of the game between Australia and Serbia.