Germany will not take “unnecessary risks” with Mesut Ozil as the Arsenal man looks to shake off a knee problem and be fully fit for the World Cup.
The German Football Association (DFB) said Ozil had only done running exercises during Thursday’s final training session ahead of the friendly against Saudi Arabia as he continued to recover from a “minor bruise to his left knee”.
Ozil picked up the problem during Saturday’s 2-1 defeat against Austria, and will not feature in Friday night’s last warm-up match at the BayArena in Leverkusen.
“I didn’t take part in final team training today, but some running exercises were possible again,” Ozil said in a Twitter post on Thursday afternoon.
Ozil missed the closing games of Arsenal’s Premier League campaign due to a back injury suffered during the Europa League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid on May 3.
As a precaution, @MesutOzil1088 didn't take part in final training today, completing running exercises instead. He is out of #GERKSA with a minor bruise to his left knee.#DieMannschaft #ZSMMN pic.twitter.com/9iV8vl9rZD
— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) June 7, 2018
Germany general manager Oliver Bierhoff told a press conference on Thursday that while the latest problem is “nothing dramatic”, the world champions plan to
take a cautious approach ahead of the opening World Cup match against Mexico in Moscow on June 17.
“He has a bruise on his knee. We do not want to take unnecessary risks, he did sprints today,” Bierhoff said, quoted by the DFB website.
“We still have some time to go to the World Cup, it’s nothing dramatic.”