By Klaus Bergmann, dpa
Berlin (dpa) – Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger has been ruled out of upcoming friendlies with England and Italy with another knee injury and faces a race in time to be fit for Euro 2016.
«The 31-year-old captain has suffered a partial medial ligament tear in the right knee at the end of training Tuesday … this was shown in an MRI examination in the practice of national team doctor Hans-Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt in Munich today,» the German association DFB said in a statement.
Germany coach Joachim Loew had earlier confirmed at a press conference that Schweinsteiger would not feature against England in Berlin on Saturday or Italy in Munich on March 29.
Schweinsteiger had only just returned for his club Manchester United on March 10 having been out with a knee injury since January 9. He had previously suffered a groin injury in October 2015 and, after such an injury-hit campaign, must be considered doubtful for Euro
2016 in France despite his status in the German squad.
The midfielder is now to return to Manchester to receive further treatment.
Arsenal’s Mezut Oezil and Bayer Leverkusen’s Karim Bellarabi also sat out Wednesday training due to minor injuries sustained with their clubs at the weekend, and Wolfsburg’s Julian Draxler trained alone rather than with the rest of the group.
Preparations for the matches have been overshadowed by the terrorist attacks in Brussels, which have brought back bad memories for those in the German camp.
A friendly with the Netherlands set for November 17 last year was cancelled a few days after the attacks in Paris, in which the Stade de France – where the Germans were playing France at the time – was one of the targets of suicide bombers.
«Of course it has made us all reflective,» Loew said. «But we are not allowing it to leave an impression.»
Loew also revealed that the preliminary squad for Euro 2016 will be named on May 17, three days after the conclusion of the Bundesliga.
The deadline for nominating the final 23-man tournament squad to UEFA is May 30, the day after Germany face Slovakia in a friendly in Augsburg.
One player who looks set to be part of that squad despite club problems is 2014 World Cup hero Mario Goetze, despite limited playing time with Bayern Munich.
«He has a great attitude,» the coach said. «I’ll count on him at the Euros. What happens afterwards is then something between him and Bayern.»
