CHICAGO (AP) — Germany has injury concerns heading into game. world cup. They are also on a nine-game winning streak.
Germany played without Lennart Karl on Saturday, a day after the 18-year-old midfielder injured his thigh in training. However, Leroy Sane and Kai Havertz scored and Germany, ranked 10th, defeated the USA. 2-1 At Soldier Field.
Germany’s next match is their World Cup opener against Curacao on June 14th. In Group E, matches are also scheduled against Ivory Coast on June 20th and Ecuador on June 25th.
Karl was excluded from participating in the tournament. He had just joined the club after a breakthrough season with Bayern Munich. Champions League youngest goalscorer.
“It’s really tough. … I had a good relationship with Lenny. He’s a great guy and a very young player,” Germany defender David Raum said after the win over the United States. “But yeah, we shared a lot of great moments together in this short amount of time. He plays on the right wing, so we always played against him in practice. So, we lost a good person and a great player.”
Karl wrote on Instagram that missing the World Cup was “harder than words can describe.” “Unfortunately, injuries often occur at the most inopportune times,” he posted.
Karl was replaced by midfielder Assan Ouedraogo, who plays alongside Raum at Leipzig in the Bundesliga. Ouedraogo made one appearance for Germany, scoring in a 6-0 win over Slovakia in November.
“Yes, we are very happy to have him here. He will help us a lot as well,” Raum said.
Manuel Neuer is recovering from a calf muscle problem and goalkeeper Oliver Baumann started against the USA.
Neuer, 40, will be heading into the World Cup having not played for Germany for almost two years. He retired from the national team after the 2024 European Championships, but agreed to a recall last month.
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
