Germany taking no risks on Ozil

GERMANY will not take “unnecessary risks” with Mesut Ozil as the Arsenal midfielder looks to shake off a knee problem and be fully fit for the World Cup.

The German Football Association (DFB) said Ozil had only done running exercises during yesterday’s final training session ahead of the friendly against Saudi Arabia as he continued to recover from a “minor bruise to his left knee”.

Ozil picked up the problem during Saturday’s 2-1 defeat against Austria, and will not feature in tonight’s last warm-up match at the BayArena in Leverkusen.

Ozil 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.

Germany general manager Oliver Bierhoff said that while the latest problem is “nothing dramatic”, the world champions plan to take a cautious approach ahead of the opening World Cup match against Mexico in Moscow on June 17.

“He has a bruise on his knee. We do not want to take unnecessary risks, he did sprints today,” Bierhoff said

“We still have some time to go to the World Cup, it’s nothing dramatic.”

‘Die Mannschaft’ will be looking for an improved performance following the loss to Austria in Klagenfurt, which was a fifth match without a victory for Germany.

Mesut Ozil has a “minor bruise to his left knee”.