Video highlights from the Euro 2012 qualifying match against Belgium yesterday.

Germany started their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with a hard fought 1-0 victory against Belgium in Brussels. Friday’s victory gives Joachim Loew’s side the best of starts in Group A but the World Cup semi-finalists Germany were some way from the form they showed in South Africa in July.

The Belgian hosts were the better team in the first half and had it not been for a couple of good saves by Manuel Neuer Germany would have found themselves a goal or two down. Germany showed a lot of respect to Belgium’s young stars.

However, veteran striker Miroslav Klose struck six minutes after the interval with Germany capitalizing on a mistake by central defender Daniel van Buyten. Bastian Schweinsteiger grabbed possession and passed the ball to his Bayern Munich teammate Thomas Mueller who set up Klose for his 53rd goal for Germany.

Joachim Löw, coach of Germany’s national football team, confirmed Wednesday that veteran midfielder Michael Ballack will remain his first-choice captain despite being left out of their opening Euro 2012 qualifying games.

Ballack, 33, has been dropped for the first two games against Belgium in Brussels on Friday and Azerbaijan at home four days later as he continues his recovery from the ankle injury that kept him out of the World Cup.

Among the 21 players called upon by German coach Joachim Löw for two upcoming qualifying games, 17 were part of the DFB-team, that had clinched third place at the World Cup in South Africa. Germany kicks-off their qualifying run for the 2012 European Championships with matches against Belgium in Brussels on September 3, and against Azerbaijan on September 7 in Cologne.

Real Madrid have signed German World Cup star Mesut Ozil from Bundesliga side Werder Bremen for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around €15 million.

Werder turned down an offer which was described as “risible” by general manager Klaus Allofs last week but have now reached an agreement for Ozil, who would have been available on a free transfer when his contract expired in 12 months.

Denmark recovered from two goals down to grab a deserved 2-2 draw with Germany in the two nations’ first fixture since the World Cup.

Mario Gomez put Germany ahead against the run of play in the 19th minute and Patrick Helmes added a second in the 73rd.

However, Dennis Rommedahl and Mads Junker struck back to ensure that Morten Olsen’s side earned a draw in Copenhagen.

Both coaches were deprived of the majority of their regular first-team squads for this friendly match, which fell at an unfortunate time with domestic seasons on the verge of beginning and numerous players, mainly from the regular Germany squad, only just back in training following the World Cup.

Denmark’s players have had a longer holiday this summer following their early elimination in South Africa and they looked fresher early on.

Daniel Agger went close with a header in the seventh minute before a succession of dangerous free-kicks from Christian Eriksen threatened Tim Wiese’s goal.

Yet it was the visitors who went ahead with their first attack in the 19th minute.

Thomas Hitzlsperger was the provider, although his finely-threaded throughball seemed to be aimed at Toni Kroos, although it fell perfectly for Gomez to…

Only 7 of the 17 players called-upon by Joachim Löw belonged to the German World Cup team. The rest of the World Cup team have rejoined their clubs and are preparing for the new football season. Germany faces Denmark in a friendly at Copenhagen on Wednesday.

Löw nominated the goalkeepers Manuel Neuer (Schalke 04) and Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen), defenders Jerome Boateng (Manchester City) and Serdar Tasci (VfB Stuttgart), midfielders Toni Kroos (Bayern München), Marko Marin (Werder Bremen) as well as forward Mario Gomez (Bayern München).

Thomas Mueller celebrated signing a new contract with Bayern Munich by helping the Bundesliga champions to win the pre-season German Supercup clash with runners-up Schalke on Saturday.

The 20-year-old, a revelation for Germany at the 2010 World Cup after scoring five goals, broke the deadlock in the second half in Augsburg before Miroslav Klose sealed a 2-0 win.

Before the match, he agreed a two-year extension to his previous deal, which was due to expire in 2013.

Real Madrid announced on Friday that they had reached a deal with Stuttgart to sign their German international midfielder Sami Khedira, who shone during the World Cup, on a five-year contract.

The club released no financial details concerning the deal.

Khedira was under contract with Stuttgart until 2011. The defensive midfielder played seven matches during the World Cup in South Africa and scored the winning goal in the third-place play-off against Uruguay.

He made his first-team debut for Stuttgart in October 2006, winning the German league title in his first season, and scored a total of 14 goals in his 98 appearances for the club.

National team coach Joachim Löw and his three right-hand men have agreed two-year extensions to their contracts following the team’s World Cup success, press reports said Tuesday.

Löw was due to sign a new deal with the German Football Federation (DFB) later on Tuesday ahead of a news conference, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Bild dailies reported.