World Cup 2014 round-up: Do not write off Ozil, Podolski warns media

In other World Cup news, Belgian Origi taken to hospital; No injection, no World Cup for Ribery; Ronaldo set for opener.

Germany’s Lukas Podolski on Saturday jumped to the defence of his under-fire Arsenal teammate Mesut Ozil ahead of their opening match against Portugal.

Ozil has had a drop in form this season, and ex-Germany captain Michael Ballack has criticised him by saying he has looked “lost” on occasions since joining Arsenal from Real Madrid. Coach Joachim Loew is set to name Ozil up front, replacing him in Germany’s attacking midfield role with Bayern Munich’s Toni Kroos.

Podolski said the German media should get off Ozil’s back.

“Mesut has the quality. He is a world-class player and will bring us plenty of joy in the shirt,” Podolski said. “You shouldn’t write him off, just let the boy play football. He is just the way he is.” Germany are among the favourites to win the World Cup, but Podolski said Spain’s shock 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands on Friday served as a warning to other top sides.

For more World Cup stories, visit our dedicated microsite – thenational.ae/worldcup.

Click here for a downloadable 2014 World Cup wall chart.

Belgium

Belgium’s striking crisis deepened yesterday with teenage forward Divock Origi taken to hospital in the Sao Paulo region for scans on an ankle injury just days away from their opening game against Algeria. Origi, who is of Kenyan descent, had to be helped off the training pitch at Mogi das Cruzes in Sao Paulo State after suffering the injury following a challenge from midfielder Moussa Dembele. Belgium have already seen Aston Villa forward Christian Benteke ruled out of the tournament with a ruptured Achilles’ tendon, while Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku only returned to training on Wednesday after injuring an ankle in a bruising friendly with Tunisia last Saturday. If Lille’s Origi, 19, does not recover by Tuesday, then Lukaku will be their only recognised striker for their Group H opener against Algeria in Belo Horizonte.

France

Franck Ribery conceded he had missed out on playing at the World Cup because he had refused to go along with the French team doctor’s advice to have an injection to alleviate crippling back pain. The Bayern Munich winger, 31, said was not afraid of injections, but he had simply not wanted the French team doctor to give him a cortisone injection – because he thought it would shorten his career. Ribery’s denial of being afraid of injections contradicts that of Franck Le Gall, the team’s medical chief, who said on Thursday that Ribery would have made the trip to Brazil but for his fear of needles.

Portugal

Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo is training well and will play in their opening World Cup Group G game against Germany tomorrow despite concerns about his left knee, goalkeeper Eduardo said yesterday. “Cristiano is good. He is training good, he is training hard. We are sure that he is going to be 100 per cent,” Eduardo said at Portugal’s training camp near Sao Paulo. “We are a group, we have a lot of good players and nobody wins alone, but with Cristiano of course it is better for us – you are talking about the best player in the world.”

Netherlands

Robin van Persie and his Dutch teammates were applauded out onto their training pitch yesterday by a group of children who snapped close-up pictures of the World Cup’s men of the moment. The Netherlands have been soaking up the praise from young and old across Brazil and the football world after its stunning 5-1 demolition of defending champion Spain in the Group B opener on Friday night in Salvador. Van Persie, Arjen Robben and other players who started the rout of the world and European champions carried out light jogging drills at local club Flamengo’s training facility in Rio de Janeiro. Van Persie, who scored twice against Spain, later walked over to the youngsters, said “hi”.

Brazil

Brazilian striker Neymar has played down talk that a yellow card in the World Cup opener against Croatia will force him into a less aggressive style of play, though a second caution could see him banned from a knockout match. Neymar was lucky to escape with only a caution after elbowing Luka Modric in the throat during the 3-1 win over Croatia. “I am not worried, I am going to play to win the second game,” he said. “If I start thinking about it, that’ll make it worse.” Until the last World Cup, Fifa erased all cards after the group stages. But now cards are accumulated until the quarter-finals.

Follow our sports coverage on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE