Germany names Bender twins in Rio football squad

Rio de Janeiro, July 16 (IANS) Twins Lars and Sven Bender have been named in Germany's final 18-man squad for next month's Olympic Games here.

The 27-year-olds and Freiburg attacker Nils Petersen will be Germany's three players over the age of 23 in the quadrennial extravaganza, reports Xinhua.

Sven, a defensive midfielder for Borussia Dortmund, has been capped seven times for Germany while Lars, also a midfielder, has made 19 international appearances.

Borussia Dortmund central defender Matthias Ginter is the only player who was part of Germany's squad that won the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Germany have been drawn in Group C of the Rio 2016 tournament alongside Fiji, Republic of Korea and Mexico.

They will open their campaign against Mexico in Salvador on August 4.

Germany squad:

Goalkeepers: Timo Horn (Cologen), Jannik Huth (Mainz)

Defenders: Niklas Sule (Hoffenheim), Jeremy Toljan (Hoffenheim), Robert Bauer (Ingolstadt), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Dortmund), Lukas Klostermann (RB Leipzig), Philipp Max (Augsburg)

Midfielders: Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkusen), Sven Bender (Borussia Dortmund), Max Christiansen (Ingolstadt), Serge Gnabry (Arsenal), Max Meyer (Schalke), Leon Goretzka (Schalke)

Forwards: Nils Petersen (Freiburg), Davie Selke (RB Leipzig), Grischa Promel (Karlsruher).