Schweinsteiger out of Germany qualifiers
Reuters - Friday 20 May 2011, 10:41
BERLIN - Bastian Schweinsteiger,
who played the season's last three Bundesliga matches with
a broken toe, has been ruled out of Germany's Euro 2012
qualifiers next month, the German Football Federation (DFB) said
Friday.
Schweinsteiger was injured in a 1-1 draw against Eintracht
Frankfurt but still played in subsequent matches against Schalke
04, St Pauli and VfB Stuttgart.
The DFB said on its website that
Schweinsteiger had dropped out of the squad after consulting the
Bayern and Germany team doctors.
It added that Schweinsteiger had played the final games
"despite pain and because of the special sporting situation of
the Munich team."
Bayern were struggling to qualify for the Champions League,
eventually finishing third to guarantee a place in the final
qualifying round of Europe's top club competition.
Germany host Uruguay in a friendly on May 29 before visiting
Austria on June 3 and Azerbaijan four days later for Euro 2012
qualifiers. They top Group A with 15 points from five games.
Bayern fiercely criticised the Netherlands at the start of
the season for fielding their winger Arjen Robben at last year's
World Cup finals when he had a thigh injury.
Robben missed the first four months of the German season
after Bayern said he aggravated the injury in South Africa.