Schweinsteiger retires from Germany duty

BERLIN: Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger on Friday announced his retirement from international duty with immediate effect. The 31-year-old Manchester United midfielder, who won his 120th and final cap in Germany’s 2-0 defeat to France in the semi-finals of Euro 2016, revealed the news on his official Twitter account. “With Bastian Schweinsteiger, we are saying goodbye to a big name from the national team,” said German Football Association president Reinhard Grindel. Schweinsteiger retires from die Mannschaft with his Old Trafford future in the balance having reportedly been told by United’s new coach Jose Mourinho that he is one of nine players free to leave the club. He still has two years left to run on his United contract. A knee injury in January flared up again in March, restricting him to just a handful of matches before he played at the European Championship, netting a goal on his return against Ukraine in Germany’s opening pool game. “I have just told the national head coach (Joachim Loew) to no longer consider me for selection in the future as I would like to retire,” wrote Schweinsteiger.

WORLD CUP JOY

Schweinsteiger’s finest moment in the famous white shirt was his battling performance in the 2014 World Cup final in Rio. He absorbed everything the Argentina midfield threw at him to help Germany secure a 1-0 extra-time victory as Mario Goetze’s winning goal gave die Mannschaft a fourth title. PALLEKELE, SRI LANKA: Australia faced an uphill struggle to save the first Test against Sri Lanka’s rampant spinners after losing three early second innings wickets Friday while trying to chase down a formidable target of 268.

The tourists were precariously placed at 83 for three, with skipper Steve Smith unbeaten on 26, when bad light forced an early end to play for the fourth day running in Pallekele.

The world number one Test team still need another 185 runs for victory on the final day on Saturday, when Sri Lanka’s trio of spinners will expect to capitalise on their early inroads against the tourists.

BRIEF SCORES Sri Lanka 117 and 353 (K Mendis 176; M Starc 4-84) vs Australia 203 and 83/3