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Other Football

Philipp Lahm will lead Germany for the first time in their friendly international against the Ivory Coast in Gelsenkirchen's Arena AufSchalke.

The Bayern Munich full-back will wear the captain's armband as regular skipper Michael Ballack has been ruled out with a knee injury.

"Lahm has worked his way into a leading position in recent years and will deputise for Ballack as captain," Germany's general manager Oliver Bierhoff confirmed today.

"This will certainly be a particularly special moment for him."

Bierhoff also confirmed that Tim Wiese and Manuel Neuer would share the goalkeeping responsibilities by playing 45 minutes each.

Coach Joachim Low had planned to play Wiese for 90 minutes against Chile at the weekend and allow Neuer a full appearance at his home stadium against the Ivorians, but the postponement of Saturday's game due to the tragic death of Robert Enke has prompted a rethink.

"Tim has yet to start a game so he will begin this one," said Bierhoff. "But Manuel Neuer will get the chance to play in front of his home fans in the second half."

Yesterday, Low revealed Bayer Leverkusen striker Stefan Kiessling will also start after hitting eight goals in 12 Bundesliga matches.

"I am delighted for him because he deserves his chance," said Bierhoff. "He has worked hard on himself and maintained his composure.

"I think he is in great surroundings at Leverkusen with (coach) Jupp Heynckes and can improve further there."

Lukas Podolski, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mesut Ozil are likely to play in support of Kiessling in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

And Bierhoff has promised the fans attractive, attacking football on what may otherwise be a difficult evening in what is the national side's first game since Enke's death.

Enke's number one shirt will be displayed on the Germany bench and a minute's silence will be held before kick-off with both sides wearing black armbands out of respect for the man who was on course to be Germany's first-choice goalkeeper at the World Cup.

"We have got to try and get back to normal and bring football to the fore," said Bierhoff.

"We all said goodbye to Robert individually on Sunday and he would have wanted the team to play with drive and verve, and that is what we want to do on Wednesday."

Ivory Coast forward Didier Drogba is unlikely to play due to a rib injury which ruled him out of the World Cup qualifier against Guinea at the weekend.

His Chelsea team-mate Salomon Kalou and West Brom defender Abdoulaye Meite are also unlikely to figure after being disciplined by coach Vahid Halidhodzic for an "altercation" before Saturday's 3-0 win over Guinea.

"I have apologised to Meite and he has accepted that," said Kalou in the La Patriote newspaper. "It's a shame what happened between Abdoulaye and me.

"We have been punished and I assume that is the way forward. You recognise your errors and you learn from them. We have spoken and the issue is dealt with."