Injury blow for Schweinsteiger

Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has been ruled out of their upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers due to a broken toe.

Schweinsteiger will miss the qualifiers against Austria (June 3) and Azerbaijan (June 7), as well as their friendly against Uruguay (May 29), the German Football Association confirmed on Friday.

The 87-time international was withdrawn from the squad, after he, national team boss Joachim Loew and Dr Hans-Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt decided prolonged rest was his best option.

Loew will not call up a replacement.

Schweinsteiger, who suffered the injury in Bayern’s 1-1 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt on April 23, carried the injury through the last three games of the Bundesliga season.

Germany have won all five of their Group A qualifiers for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine, which begins in June next year.