BERLIN, March 4 — Joachim Loew has issued his Germany stars with a World Cup warning for tomorrow’s friendly against Chile by insisting he will only pick his Brazil 2014 squad on current form.

Germany host Chile in Stuttgart tomorrow in their final match before Loew names his World Cup squad on May 8.

The 54-year-old head coach has said time is running out for some players to prove they are in form and to secure their ticket to Brazil.

“The clock is ticking. Only those who hear it will have a real chance,” said Loew.

“I appeal to all of the squad to prepare their case as strong as possible, just as it needs to be if they have big goals in mind.”

Germany captain Philipp Lahm echoed Loew’s concerns with several members of the squad lacking form.

“It would be completely wrong to say that everything’s going well for us,” said Lahm, who will make his 105th appearance for his country.

“All of the squad needs to feel concerned, we all have to work hard for our respective clubs and country.”

While he did not mention Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil directly, Loew’s words are a warning to the Gunners’ star who has dropped down the pecking order for Germany’s central midfield spot.

With eight goals, Ozil was the top scorer and a key factor in Germany winning nine and drawing one of their 10 World Cup qualifiers.

But his form has dipped sharply since the start of the year, leading to Gunners’ manager Arsene Wenger dropping him after he failed to convert a penalty in Arsenal’s 2-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League last month.

In the past, Loew has refered to Ozil as a “key player” but both Mario Goetze and Toni Kroos have impressed for Bayern Munich in the central midfield role with Loew describing the latter as an “incredibly important piece in our puzzle”.

Ozil could switch to the wing and Loew has said he wants his midfielders to have a “high degree of flexibility, both defensively and offensively”.

Lahm gives Ozil backing

But Lahm is backing Ozil to re-find his form ahead of their opening World Cup match against Portugal on June 16.

“It’s quite normal that things don’t always go well in a career,” said Lahm.

“Mesut has shown us what an outstanding player he is and we have nothing to worry about. He will hit top form again.”

The Gunners’ midfielder is not the only German who would benefit from a good performance against Chile.

Both Schalke midfielder Julian Draxler and defender Benedikt Hoewedes are back from injury, but struggling to make an impact in a Royal Blues side reeling from heavy defeats to both Real Madrid and Bayern.

Centre-back Mats Hummels has endured an injury-ravaged season at Borussia Dortmund, while team-mate Ilkay Gundogan is still injured having not played since August with a back problem and a virus.

Wingers Lukas Podolski of Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus need to impress Loew with Bayern’s Thomas Mueller out due to a hamstring injury.

Meanwhile, both Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger are set to bring their freshly forged defensive midfield partnership at Bayern to Germany’s colours.

Schweinsteiger is set to make his first appearance in a Germany friendly since August 2011, while Lahm is being switched from right-back to the midfield.

“I feel good playing there, I enjoy it and can imagine playing there for the coming months, weeks and years,” said Lahm. — AFP