Germany Defender Mats Hummels Likely Out for World Cup Clash vs. Sweden
Germany center back Mats Hummels is likely to miss his side's Group F encounter with Sweden on Saturday. The Bayern Munich defender has suffered from a cervical vertebrae injury, and isn't like to be able to take part, manager Joachim Low confirmed in his pre-match press conference.
Germany's World Cup got off to a terrible start against Mexico last week. The reigning world champions looked uninspiring to say the least as they fell to a 1-0 defeat to their opponents across the Atlantic Ocean - a loss that was hugely unexpected.
This means that Die Mannschaft must beat Sweden if they want to avoid fears of being knocked out of the World Cup at the first stage - having only won the trophy four years ago in Brazil.
But now there's been another set back in the form of Hummels' fitness, which Low addressed on Friday.
Hummels himself isn't giving up hope of playing, though it's clearly far from a likelihood.
Elsewhere in Group F, Mexico take on South Korea, and will be looking to secure their second set of three points in order to strengthen their grip on making it to the last 16.
Should Germany beat Sweden, they'll be tied on points with Saturday's opponents, and it will all boil down to the final day of their group to determine who gets knocked out and who stays.
In regards to Hummels, it's unconfirmed exactly how long he will be out, nor is there any information on the severity of the injury to even make educated guesses towards his spell on the sidelines. It seems as though it is simply a waiting game at this point.
