German midfielder Dietmar Hamann is a growing doubt for tomorrow’s World Cup semi-final with South Korea as he is struggling to recover from a knee ligament injury.
German coach Rudi Voller said today that Hamann would attempt to train with the squad once they reached Seoul after leaving their training base on the southern island of Jeju later in the day.
"He is going to try to train with the team this evening and the decision will be taken tomorrow. If he doesn't play it will be a tough blow," said Voller at a press conference.
The 28-year-old Liverpool player has been struggling with the injury since the quarter-final win over the United States on Friday.
Voller insisted that despite his team's vastly superior World Cup pedigree, they would go into the match against the surprising Korean co-hosts as "outsiders".
"We have a good chance of reaching the final but we will have to play better if we want to progress," he said, in reference to the unimpressive 1-0 victories over Paraguay and the Americans.
He said the red-hot atmosphere in the 65,000-capacity Seoul World Cup Stadium should inspire his players.
"It should be every player's dream to play a match in this sort of atmosphere against the host nation," said Voller, a World Cup winner as a player in Italy in 1990.
AFP