Schalke 04 midfielder Leon Goretzka has been ruled out of Germany’s semifinal showdown against Nigeria at the Rio Olympic Games on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old suffered a shoulder injury in their opening match against Mexico, and has returned home to continue his rehabilitation.
Germany U23 coach Horst Hrubesch has told the official website of the German Football Federation that he won’t be calling up a replacement for his injured skipper, so he is now left with 17 players.
Leonardo Bittencourt ( FC Köln), Sebastian Kerk, Christian Günter (both SC Freiburg) and goalkeeper Eric Oelschlägel (SV Werder Bremen) are the players on Germany’s alternate roster for the Games.
Nigeria coach Samson Siasia is sweating on the fitness of top scorer Oghenekaro Etebo ahead of the clash in Sao Paulo.