Kurányi Moving Back in Frame for Germany

Kevin Kurányi's play for Schalke 04 has Joachim Löw and Oliver Bierhoff reconsidering the striker's exclusion from the German national team.

The Brazilian-born striker has been excluded from the Nationalmannscaft since Germany's 2008 World Cup qualifier against Russia.  For that match, Kurányi was called-up but excluded from the dressed squad.  After watching the first half from the stands, Kurányi left the stadium.  In response, Kurányi has been excluded from subsequent call-ups, with Löw previously saying plans for South Africa did not include the Schalke attacker.

Since, Kurányi has been one of the best scorers in the Bundesliga, accumulating 18 goals.  Perhaps as important, Germany's depth in strikers has come into question, with diminished league returns from Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski making the inclusion of those German stand-outs precarious for a team that always expects to compete for the Cup.

Bierhoff, Germany's general manager, is now publicly indicating Kurányi is in the picture.  Likewise, Joachim Löw has lightened his stance, a stance that had said Kurányi would not be with the team in South Africa.

Should Bierhoff and Löw want to stay entrenched in their Kurányi exclusion, they could still form a decent striking core.  Mario Gómez, Stefan Keißling, Aaron Hunt and Cacau, augmented by Podolski - who could make the team based on his ability to play wide left - would be fine.  For most of this season, Keißling has been superior to Kurányi.

But it's difficult to make a list of five German strikers that are better than Kurányi.  If Bierhoff and Löw become convinced that Kurányi can remain focused on Germany for six weeks, he should make the team.  

Else, Germany will move on and probably be fine.