Berlin: Borussia Dortmund keeper Roman Weidenfeller's belated Germany call-up is a dream come true and the cherry on top of a long and successful club career, the 33-year-old said on Tuesday.
Weidenfeller was overlooked for years by coach Joachim Loew despite outstanding seasons with Dortmund that included consecutive league titles in 2011 and 2012 as well as the 2012 German Cup and last season's Champions League final.
The keeper, whose only caps have been for Germany's youth teams, earned his maiden senior call-up last week ahead of international friendlies against Italy on Friday and England at Wembley four days later.
"Today a dream came true for me," he told reporters in his first news conference as a Germany player. "I want to let everything come to me and I am open for everything and just want to enjoy it. The nomination itself was the cherry on top."
Weidenfeller, who only months ago seemed to have given up hope of ever playing for Germany, would not play in the first game in Milan with Manuel Neuer picked to start but could be used against England, goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke told reporters.
Koepke said he wanted to keep alive competition within the squad in the run-up to next year's World Cup.
Neuer is the first choice with Rene Adler, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Ron-Robert Zieler in the mix for the two reserve positions.
"Now is the last chance to try something out," Koepke said. "Roman has been playing at top level for a long time and we want to give him the chance to prove himself in the national team. He deserved the nomination. We called up Roman because we want to be certain of taking the right decisions for Brazil."
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