BERLIN: Germany’s World Cup hopes suffered a severe blow yesterday when midfielder Marco Reus was ruled out of the tournament due to an ankle injury sustained in their final warm-up game.
Germany, who take on Ghana, Portugal and United States in Group G, left for Brazil yesterday with 22-year-old Sampdoria defender Shkodran Mustafi booking an unexpected last-minute ticket following Reus’s injury.
“I do not have the words to describe what I am feeling at the moment,” Reus said in a statement issued by his club Borussia Dortmund.
“A dream burst in just one second and now I need to look forward, be professional about my recovery because I have to keep going. I will come back stronger than before.
“My best wishes to the whole team to achieve our goal without me.”
Reus, who scored 16 goals in the Bundesliga last season, most by any midfielder, turned his ankle shortly before the break in their 6-1 victory over Armenia on Friday in Mainz, partially tearing the anterior ligament above his left ankle on the eve of the team’s departure for Brazil.
“Both for him and for us it is extremely bitter,” coach Joachim Loew told reporters. “Marco was in top form and both in the training camp and in the friendlies against Cameroon and Armenia left an outstanding impression.
“He had played a central role in our planning for Brazil.”
The lightning-quick Reus, who enjoyed a superb season at Dortmund, was seen as a key player in Germany’s quest to claim their first international title in 18 years.
Mustafi, who won his only cap in May against Poland, was surprisingly part of the provisional squad but missed the cut as one of three players omitted from the final squad earlier this week.
“It was not about replacing Marco Reus in the same position,” Loew added. “We have a lot of quality in that position and a lot of options with Lukas Podolski, Andre Schuerrle, Mario Goetze, Thomas Mueller, Mesut Ozil, Julian Draxler and Toni Kroos.
“That is why we decided for an option in defence and Shkodran had been convincing in our training camp, he is fit and we have full confidence in him
Reus joins France star Franck Ribery who was ruled out of the World Cup on Friday.
Ribery’s withdrawal came after the Bayern Munich winger pulled up in pain with a back injury at France’s Clairefontaine training camp on the outskirts of Paris.
France manager Didier Deschamps confirmed the 31-year-old would miss the tournament along with Lyon midfielder Clement Grenier, who had been nursing a thigh injury.
“We had stepped up (Ribery’s) level of work this week and it was in a training session this morning, before even he could join team training, which involved him running and stepping up his routine that he pulled up with a sharp pain in his back,” Deschamps said.
Ribery’s withdrawal deprives France of their prime attacking focal point, who a year ago cemented his position as one of world football’s top talents.
With Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo also struggling to be fit in time for his country’s Group G opener with the Germans on June 16 France and Germany were not the only teams struggling with injury concerns.
Colombia have already seen talismanic striker Radamel Falcao ruled out of the tournament after he lost his battle to recover from a serious knee injury.
Falcao, who has scored 20 goals in 51 international appearances, suffered knee ligament damage in a French Cup tie in January and has not played since.
Spain too have been waiting on the fitness of champions Atletico Madrid’s Brazil-born striker Diego Costa, who is battling an ongoing hamstring problem that forced him off in the early stages of last month’s Champions League final.
England meanwhile also have injury concerns, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain limping out of Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with Ecuador with a knee ligament strain.
The injury has left the Arsenal star struggling to be fit for England’s June 14 Group D meeting with Italy in Manaus.
There was better news for Chile however who had been fretting over a shoulder injury suffered by Barcelona’s Alexis Sanchez.
Scans revealed only a moderate inflammation and Chile officials said they expected the forward to line up for the team’s opening Group G game on Friday.
Agencies
