The Germany squad flew out to Mallorca on Monday for a 12-day training camp to begin their preparations for Euro 2008.
Coach Joachim Low took a 24-man group on the charter flight from Frankfurt am Main to Palma de Mallorca where they will lay the foundations for what they hope will be a successful summer in Austria and Switzerland.
Christoph Metzelder, who is on tour in Saudi Arabia with his club Real Madrid, and Chelsea's Michael Ballack, who is preparing for Wednesday's Champions League final, will both join the squad later this week.
When they return in just under a fortnight, three players will remain in Germany as the final 23-man squad transfers to Locarno in southern Switzerland - their base for Euro 2008.
Germany's first match of Euro 2008 is against Poland on June 8 and Low intends for their last one to see them crowned European Champions in Vienna on June 29.
"Why should we settle for second best when the best is possible?" he asked before departure.
Low is keen to get straight down to business, knowing he has five days less than his predecessor Jurgen Klinsmann had before the 2006 World Cup.
He has drawn up a grueling timetable of two training sessions per day to prevent the players' joints from seizing up after the trials of a Bundesliga season which has just ended.
During the training camp on the Balearic Island, Germany will jet back to Kaiserslautern to play Belarus on May 27 before returning to Gelsenkirchen four days later to play their final warm-up fixture against Serbia.
