Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff has backed both captain Bastian Schweinsteiger and defender Jerome Boateng to recover from injury to play for the world champions in June's European championships.
"I am 100 percent convinced that Jerome will manage it. He's very professional," Bierhoff said at a panel discussion in Mainz on Tuesday.
"And also with an experienced player like Bastian Schweinsteiger, I also don't have any big concerns.
"Perhaps it is even a good thing if he doesn't have 60 games under his belt before a European championships."
But Bierhoff says he expects centre-back Holger Badstuber to miss Euro 2016, which start in France on June 10, as he recovers from a fractured ankle.
"I see the chances of Holger being very low," said Bierhoff.
All three are out of Germany's home friendlies later against England in Berlin onMarch 26 and Italy in Munich on March 29.
Manchester United midfielder Schweinsteiger, 31, has been sidelined since the start of January with a torn medial ligament, but expects to be playing again by late March.
Bayern Munich centre-back Boateng, 27, has been out since January with a torn groin and is not expected to return until April.
His Bayern team-mate Badstuber, 26, had surgery in mid-February and is not expected to play again this season. It was his fourth serious injury since December 2012.
Badstuber has been limited to 31 appearances for Germany since 2010 by a horrific injury list.
He first tore his right cruciate ligament in December 2012, only to repeat the injury in the same leg the following May.
He was out for a total of 642 days and only returned in January 2015, but then tore his left thigh in April last year before making his comeback in November.
No comments:
Post a Comment