The 27-year-old Arsenal striker is set to earn his 109th cap in the friendly international in Boca Raton, Florida in an opportunity to show coach Joachim Loew that he is still an important player for the national team ahead of next year's World Cup in Brazil.
Podolski will go one better than the 108 caps earned by Juergen Klinsmann, who now coaches the United States side, Germany's opponents on Sunday in Washington.
It will put him third in the all-time list behind Lothar Matthaeus (150) and Miroslav Klose (126), who joins the Germany squad for the match against the US.
But according to national team manager Oliver Bierhoff, it has been a year of "stagnation" for Podolski in the national team.
Once seen as a favourite of Loew and with the experience of five major tournaments, Podolski has seen his place last season in the team go to younger upcoming players such as Marco Reus, Mario Goetze, Andre Schuerrle and Julian Draxler.
Podolski did not play a whole 90 minutes for Germany in the past year when he found himself mostly in a substitute's role.
"Poldi notices that other players are putting him under pressure in his wide position," Bierhoff told Kicker, while praising the player's professionalism.
"It's great that he has established himself to some extent at Arsenal, but he has not confirmed it 100 per cent because he has very often been substituted or come on as a substitute."
Bierhoff has defended his remarks, saying he likes to speak "clear words" and players should be able to handle criticism.
"He (Podolski) is incredibly important for the national team but the development over the past year with the national team was just not so satisfactory."
Germany's Kicker magazine believes Podolski - who will be 28 next week -is now fighting for his place in the squad.
"For Podolski the coming season will not be about finding his way back into the first team but securing a place at all in the World Cup squad," it said.
Podolski will be the most experienced player in the team against Ecuador, with Germany on their US trip with a depleted squad minus leading players from Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid.
Loew has four uncapped players in the squad and looks set to give a debut to Freiburg striker Max Kruse.
"Max has left a very positive impression in training," he said. "He has a bit of cheekiness about him, and makes good runs. I think he is a clever striker who is difficult for a defender to predict."
The coach said he was looking for a mixture of youth and experience. Podolski's club teammate Per Mertesacker - who has 88 caps - is set to anchor a defence probably featuring Benedikt Hoewedes of Schalke and SV Hamburg duo Heiko Westermann and Marcell Jansen.
The Bayer Leverkusen trio Lars Bender, Stefan Reinartz and Schuerrle - if he shrugs of a heavy cold - are favoured in midfield alongside Werder Bremen's Aaron Hunt.
Loew expects Ecuador, ranked 10th in the world, to be a tough test for his side, particularly as the early afternoon kick-off means the game will be played in temperatures approaching 30 degrees Celsius.
"This is a home game for Ecuador. These are their conditions," he said.
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