Mesut Ozil to miss Saudi Arabia friendly after suffering knee injury
Germany’s opening match of the World Cup is on June 17 against Mexico in Moscow.
Germany have announced that Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil will miss Friday’s friendly meeting with Saudi Arabia because of a knee injury.
Ozil, 29, picked up the problem during Saturday’s 2-1 defeat against Austria, and has been reported to be doubtful for Germany’s opening match of the World Cup against Mexico in Moscow on June 17.
In a short statement on the German Football Association’s official Twitter feed, it was confirmed Ozil had sat out Thursday’s training session and would not feature in Friday night’s warm-up game at the BayArena in Leverkusen.
“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,” the German FA said on Twitter.
Ozil had 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.
The defending champions will head out to Russia after their last friendly fixture, with manager Joachim Low having now reduced his squad down to 23 players. Manchester City winger Leroy Sane was a shock omission.
