The Bayern Munich goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt has made a spectacular international comeback after being selected in Germany's preliminary World Cup squad.

The 35-year-old, who won the last of his three international caps in June 2003, was initially seen as an emergency replacement for the injured Rene Adler with Schalke's Manuel Neuer and Werder Bremen's Tim Wiese battling it out for the starting spot.

But the Germany coach Joachim Low refused to say whether Butt, who was a replacement keeper at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2000, would be the third choice. "We will sit down calmly and discuss the situation until the end of next week and then announce our decision," he said. "We discussed it, but the decision [for Butt] came quickly. He has been part of a tournament [in 2002] and he has that World Cup experience."

Butt has been part of Bayern's successful title run and will play in the German Cup and Champions League finals. The keeper, who clinched the No1 spot at his club late last season, is one of seven Bayern players to be called up, with Philipp Lahm, Holger Badstuber, Thomas Muller, Miroslav Klose, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Gomez also in the squad.

An experienced backbone of the captain Michael Ballack, Lahm, Per Mertesacker, Arne Friedrich, Schweinsteiger and Klose is supported by a group of talented younger players including Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira and Marko Marin. The Hamburg defender Dennis Aogo and Bayern's Badstuber were the surprise names in the squad.

The former Aston Villa midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger is not part of the squad, after his switch to Lazio in the winter to recover his form failed to pay off. Low's 27-man preliminary squad will be reduced to 23 players by 1 June.

Preliminary Germany squad for 2010 World Cup

Goalkeepers: Hans-Jorg Butt (Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Schalke), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen)

Defenders: Dennis Aogo (Hamburg), Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich), Andreas Beck (Hoffenheim), Jerome Boateng (Hamburg), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Marcell Jansen (Hamburg), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Serdar Tasci (Stuttgart), Heiko Westermann (Schalke)

Midfielders: Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Sami Khedira (Stuttgart), Toni Kroos (Bayer Leverkusen), Marko Marin (Werder Bremen), Mesut Ozil (Werder Bremen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Christian Trasch (Stuttgart), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg)

Forwards: Cacau (Stuttgart), Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich), Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Lukas Podolski (Cologne)