Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 9y

Bastian Schweinsteiger of Germany and Bayern Munich faces fitness wait

Germany general manager Oliver Bierhoff has admitted there is "no exact prognosis" for Bastian Schweinsteiger's return amid a report the midfielder could be out until 2015.

The German tabloid Bild claimed on Thursday that Bayern Munich feared Schweinsteiger, who has been absent since the World Cup final in July with a patellar tendon problem, "will only return to the pitch for the second half of the season."

Bierhoff, addressing the media ahead of Germany's Euro 2016 qualifiers against Poland and Ireland, acknowledged that it may be some time before the 30-year-old returns to action.

"We are hoping that he will recover soon, but there is no exact prognosis," he said. "You can sense that he is impatient on the one hand but on the other knows that he is coming out of a difficult year. He needs time to return to full fitness."

Schweinsteiger had gone into the World Cup with knee problems, and his participation had been in doubt, but ultimately he played a key role as Germany claimed the trophy.

He has been limited to individual training work for the last few weeks at Bayern and Manuel Neuer, his teammate for club and country, stressed that the midfielder was desperate to play again.

"Schweinsteiger is not too happy because he's not fit," the goalkeeper said. "He wants to play. He's the voice and the conductor of this team."

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