Schweinsteiger is a World Cup victim: Germany coach

Germany coach Joachim Loew said Tuesday football’s top stars have not had enough time to recover from the World Cup and pointed to Bastian Schweinsteiger’s ankle injury as an example of the problem.

Schweinsteiger will sit out Friday’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Turkey at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium after injuring his ankle in Bayern Munich’s 2-0 Bundesliga defeat last Sunday.

Having helped Germany finish third at the World Cup, Schweinsteiger had just a few weeks between his return from South Africa on July 12 to recover before training started for the new Bundesliga season which kicked off on August 20.

“These things happen after a World Cup,” Loew said to German daily Bild in reference to Schweinsteiger’s ankle knock.

“The players have only had a short time to prepare for the next season and the risks of getting injury is of course higher.

“The Spanish also have the same problems with injuries.”

The 26-year-old Schweinsteiger has damaged ankle ligaments and will sit out the next ten days including both Euro 2012 matches against Turkey and Kazakhstan in Astana.

With 83-caps to his name, Schweinsteiger is an important part of Germany’s midfield and his place is likely to go to Bayern team-mate Toni Kroos.

Hamburg defender Marcell Jansen will also miss Germany’s next two Euro 2012 qualifiers, the German Football Federation have said.

On Tuesday morning, Dortmund forward Kevin Grosskreutz, who has one cap to his name, withdrew from the Germany squad suffering from the ‘flu, but may still travel with the team for the game against Kazakhstan on October 12.

Germany are top of Group A, equal on six points with second-placed Turkey, after two games.