With five months to go before Low must hand his squad list to FIFA, the Germany supremo recently declared that he would not be repeating the mistake of calling up players merely for their past reputation and that he expects to find 23 hungry and motivated players during the second half of the season.

However, Podolski, who has so far failed to live up to his own glittering reputation since re-joining Cologne last summer, appears to have been given special dispensation even if he does not start finding the back of the net with regularity.

Podolski has scored 37 times in 69 games for Germany, but he has managed to find the back of the net only once since joining his home-town club in July.

Nevertheless, Low has declined the notion of him losing his place in the Germany set-up should he fail to up the ante in 2010.

"There are no doubts at all about his status as a national team player," he added in Cologne's Express newspaper.

"His goalscoring record with us is noteworthy.

"He is cheeky and is not afraid. In the national team, he nearly always plays well.

"Even against top nations, he never shows any nerves and he performs excellently."

On the other hand, Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Toni Kroos has been told he still has a lot of work to do to convince Low of his suitability for a place on the plane to South Africa.

Kroos, who is on loan at the Bundesliga leaders from Bayern Munich until the end of the season, has been one of the key components in Leverkusen's unbeaten first half of the season, but Low may take a little more convincing.

"He has developed a lot, but we will have to see whether that is enough for South Africa," said Low.

"I will wait to see what the second half of the season brings. We have taken note of his good performances in the first half of the season and with the under-21s."