Photo: Bastian Schwiensteiger
Germany has been slapped with a fresh injury doubt to their prime midfield maestro Bastian Schwiensteiger. The 29 year old dictator returned from surgery on his ankle in February but has complained about a pain in his knee after limping out of Bayern Munich’s final Bundesliga match against Stuttgart. This comes after Ilkay Gundogan, Schweinsteiger’s understudy, was ruled out of the World Cup with a back injury he sustained last August.
Germany’s manager Joachim Low must be very concerned because he has seen three of his key midfield players suffered serious and long term injuries this season. The third player is Sami Khedira who tore his anterior cruciate ligament last November but he returned to action last weekend for Real Madrid. Germany has a wealth of talent in midfield but Schweini, Gundogan and Khedira are three of the best midfielders in the world and if they were to miss out Germany would have a very large void to fill and it could seriously hurt their chances of lifting the World Cup.
The Germans are the hot favourites to overthrow defending champions Spain this summer because of their strength-in-depth in every department. The middle of the park is packed with world class talent. The latest player to ply his trade in midfield is skipper Philipp Lahm and has proven to be a very solid defensive midfielder. Should Schweinsteiger miss out Low might opt to use Lahm alongside Toni Kroos in the middle of the park or Khedira with Kroos.
There is still time for Schweinsteiger to prove his fitness and be selected for the World Cup. Bayern’s manager Pep Guardiola announced that the 29 year old won’t be risk in the German Cup final against Borussia Dortmund so there is still hope he will be ready for Brazil. Bayern has already lifted the Bundesliga title and will be gunning for the double after they were eliminated from the Champions League by Spanish giants Real Madrid in the semi-final.
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