Soccer-Midfielder Schweinsteiger named Germany captain

BERLIN, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger was named captain of the national team on Tuesday, succeeding Bayern Munich team mate Philipp Lahm, who retired from international football following their World Cup victory in Brazil in July. Thirty-year-old Schweinsteiger, who has won 108 caps and scored 23 goals for Germany, will not lead the team in Wednesday's friendly rematch of the final against Argentina due to injury, coach Joachim Loew said. Loew also said former VfB Stuttgart coach Thomas Schneider would be his new assistant, succeeding Hansi Flick, who becomes the federation's sports director. "The challenge with the national team is a great one," Schneider said. "I am honoured that both the DFB and Joachim Loew trusted in me." (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, Editing by Neville Dalton)