The end? The EUROs without Schweinsteiger? The world champions without a captain? There was a lot of doubt and a lot of doubters. In March the prognosis was bleak, and there were very few who believed that Schweinsteiger would recover in time. Before the friendly against England in Berlin, he suffered a partial tear to his medial collateral ligament, and the Tour de France was a very long way away for the 31-year-old.
And today? The impossible is now within reach. Schweinsteiger has been present at the training camp in Ascona from the very first day. First he trained individually, but since Wednesday he has been alongside his team once again. Schweinsteiger is back. The man himself is very relaxed about it all, und looks back on the situation 24 months ago, where before the World Cup in Brazil he also had to fight back from injury. “I am moving forward step by step, and I am in much better shape now than before the World Cup. During the preparation at that time in South Tirol, I wasn’t able to form any connection with the team. I only joined team training for the first time in Brazil. This time things look much better”, says the Germany captain.
Schweinsteiger: “I haven’t had a single setback, not one day”
Amongst the sceptics, there are also disbelievers. Schweinsteiger wasn’t always so sure that he would be able to assist Die Mannschaft yet again in France. One look at the calendar showed him that the time would very soon be upon him. “When I injured myself in Berlin, I wasn’t very optimistic. Then you work out how many weeks are left. Thank God, the recovery went exactly to plan. The medical team gave me a training programme, and I haven’t had a single setback, not one day.”
There is still work to be done, and it will be a day or two before a comeback is possible. The friendly against Hungary on Saturday in Gelsenkirchen (18:00 CEST, live on ZDF and the fan Club-Radio at laut.fm/dfbfanclubradio) is a realistic possibility for him: “My aim is to play against Hungary.”
The end? The EUROs without Schweinsteiger? The world champions without a captain? There was a lot of doubt and a lot of doubters. In March the prognosis was bleak, and there were very few who believed that Schweinsteiger would recover in time. Before the friendly against England in Berlin, he suffered a partial tear to his medial collateral ligament, and the Tour de France was a very long way away for the 31-year-old.
And today? The impossible is now within reach. Schweinsteiger has been present at the training camp in Ascona from the very first day. First he trained individually, but since Wednesday he has been alongside his team once again. Schweinsteiger is back. The man himself is very relaxed about it all, und looks back on the situation 24 months ago, where before the World Cup in Brazil he also had to fight back from injury. “I am moving forward step by step, and I am in much better shape now than before the World Cup. During the preparation at that time in South Tirol, I wasn’t able to form any connection with the team. I only joined team training for the first time in Brazil. This time things look much better”, says the Germany captain.
Schweinsteiger: “I haven’t had a single setback, not one day”
Amongst the sceptics, there are also disbelievers. Schweinsteiger wasn’t always so sure that he would be able to assist Die Mannschaft yet again in France. One look at the calendar showed him that the time would very soon be upon him. “When I injured myself in Berlin, I wasn’t very optimistic. Then you work out how many weeks are left. Thank God, the recovery went exactly to plan. The medical team gave me a training programme, and I haven’t had a single setback, not one day.”
There is still work to be done, and it will be a day or two before a comeback is possible. The friendly against Hungary on Saturday in Gelsenkirchen (18:00 CEST, live on ZDF and the fan Club-Radio at laut.fm/dfbfanclubradio) is a realistic possibility for him: “My aim is to play against Hungary.”
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Schweinsteiger: "You need to be 100% at tournaments"
Schweinsteiger was handed his debut against Hungary 12 years ago, replacing Andreas Hinkel for the second half. Germany’s manager back then was Rudi Völler, while Lothar Matthäus was in charge of the Hungarians. History was written, as the game was the highlight of celebrations on the 50th anniversary of the Miracle of Bern. Hungary got their revenge and therefore, future world champion Schweinsteiger began his international career with a 2-0 defeat.
Other future stars were also introduced back then. Lukas Podolski was handed his Germany debut on the 6th June 2004 in Kaiserslautern. Schweinsteiger featured for 45 minutes - it’s unlikely that he’ll play for as long on Saturday. "You can’t expect me to complete the full 90 minutes, but 20 or 30 minutes would obviously be good. I need match practice in order to get back into the swing of things. We still have eight days after the game. You need to be 100% at tournaments," he says.
“First of all we need to get through the group”
From the very beginning, the increase of participant nations has been met with a lot of criticism, but Schweinsteiger has warned against taking the group stage for granted. Ukraine, Poland and Northern Ireland are not just there to make up numbers. With regards to the Poles, this goes without saying. “First of all we need to get through the group, and that is no sure thing”, says Schweinsteiger.
And then? Anything is possible. The world champions go into the tournament with a lot of confidence, and hopes are high. Germany want their fourth star, this time in Europe. But Schweinsteiger knows that there are some very difficult opposition to overcome. “For us, every game will be more and more difficult”, he says. He also refers to the past: to a time when Brazil, Italy and Spain were world champions. “When we used to play against the World Cup holders, we were always even more motivated. We are taking this into account with our opposition.”
Because of this, Germany must not underestimate any opposition, and Schweinsteiger will make sure his players keep that in mind: “We won’t take anything for granted”, promises the captain. “During the match, as well as every training session, we need to give all we can.”
