10.10.2008

Germany - Russia: Robert Enke to miss qualifiers due to broken hand

Robert Enke will miss the two World Cup 2010 qualifiers against Russia on October, 11th in Dortmund and Wales on October, 15th in Mönchengladbach. The keeper of Hannover 96 suffered a broken scaphoid bone in his left hand during a training session. Enke will undergo surgery on Friday.

On Monday, Marcell Jansen of Hamburger SV already had to withdraw. The defender suffers from a rupture of a muscle fibre in his left thigh.

National coach Joachim Löw trusts in an established squad for the two qualifiers. Thus, 16 of the now 20 players nominated were part of the EURO 2008 squad of the "Mannschaft". On Tuesday, the team met in Düsseldorf in order to prepare for the first two 2010 World Cup qualifiers on home soil.

Five players return to the squad who were lastly missing against Belgium, Liechtenstein and Finland due to injuries: goalkeeper René Adler, defender Arne Friedrich as well as captain Michael Ballack, Torsten Frings and Jermaine Jones in the midfield.

Apart from Enke who kept the goal in the last three international matches of the "Mannschaft", goalkeepers René Adler and Tim Wiese as well as Bundesliga top scorer Patrick Helmes were also nominated. In contrast, Christoph Metzelder, Marko Marin and Andreas Hinkel will be missing against Russia and Wales.

Metzelder is said to train with his home club Real Madrid, Marin was nominated for the Under 21 squad for the EURO playoffs against France and Hinkel suffers from a thigh injury.

No comments: