Coach Bruce Arena’s chances of notching his third win against Germany are looking better because of an injury plague that has hit the three-time world champion. The game tomorrow in Rostock at 2:45 pm ET will be televised at 10 pm ET on espn2 and on Telemundo (11:30 ET/PT). MISSING: Fourteen players who are expected to be a part of Germany’s 2002 World Cup roster have been scratched from tomorrow’s game. Notable absentees include midfielder Mehmet Scholl (back), defender Sebastian Kehl (ankle), defender Jens Nowotny (ankle), keeper Oliver Kahn (resting) and Carsten Jancker (ankle). MAIN WEAPON: Bayer Leverkusen’s Michael Ballack, 25, considers himself a defensive midfielder, but he is clearly Germany’s main playmaker and a lethal scorer. He led Germany in scoring during World Cup qualifying with 6 goals and is the Bundesliga’s second leading scorer with 14 goals. His output is particularly important to Germany, whose biggest weakness is on the frontline. THIRD-STRING KEEPERS: Coach Rudi Voeller refused to call in second-string keeper Jens Lehmann because he committed a vicious foul in Bundesliga action, even though his four-game suspension does not apply to national team games. Werder Bremen’s Frank Rost and Bayer Leverkusen’s Joerg Butt are each expected to play one half. IN DEUTSCHLAND: Tomorrow’s game marks the teams’ first meeting in Germany. They’ve met three times in the USA — the Germans’ winning two friendlies in 1993 and losing a friendly in 1999. The Germans beat the USA in their France ’98 opener. The USA beat Germany, 2-0, at the 1999 Confederations’ Cup in Mexico. Both U.S. wins came under Bruce Arena. COMING OFF ROUT: The Germans have played one game in 2002 — a 7-1 win over Israel on Feb. 13. GERMANY’S PROBABLE STARTERS: Rost (Werder Bremen, 0 caps); Linke (Bayern Munich, 29), Ramelow (Bayer Leverkusen, 23) Baumann (Werder Bremen, 8); Schneider (Bayer Leverkusen, 8), Hamann (FC Liverpool, 37), Jeremies (Bayern Mƒnchen, 28), Frings (Werder Bremen, 3), Ziege (Tottenham Hotspur, 63); Bierhoff (Monaco, 60), Neuville (Bayer Leverkusen, 29)