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FOOTBALL

World Cup rivals will be tough, injured Ballack warns

Germany's injured captain Michael Ballack has warned his country's football fans against having high expectations for the World Cup finals in South Africa.

World Cup rivals will be tough, injured Ballack warns
Ballack at training camp in Sicily. Photo: DPA

“After the draw in Cape Town, I said then: people should know that we can lose in the preliminary rounds to any of the other sides,” Ballack told German magazine Stern on Wednesday. “Australia, Serbia and Ghana are all athletic, tough teams.”

Damaged ankle ligaments mean Ballack has been ruled out of next month’s World Cup, which starts on June 11, and he says his side will need to fulfill their potential to make the last four.

“The team will need to play to their limits to beat some of the great teams in the knock-out round,” said the Chelsea midfielder. “That is just the same as it was before I had to pull out.”

Since Spain in 1982, Germany have never failed to reach at least the last eight of a World Cup finals and Ballack says Joachim Löw’s side will have that goal in mind when they open their campaign against Australia on June 13.

“It is terrible for a team if they can only enjoy a tournament from the semi-final stage onwards as everything else would mean a failure,” said Ballack. “It drives you on, it pushes you, but it is also a merciless game.”

Despite his ankle injury, Ballack visited the national team at last week’s training camp in Sicily.

With 98-caps to his name, Ballack’s experience will be sorely missed, but Löw’s young side can come of age, said the injured captain.

“Our team has a good mentality, they will not hide, they will put their heads down and go to the limits,” said Ballack. “Joachim Löw will tease the best out of them, of that I am convinced. In the last few tournaments we were second and third, so why hold anything back?”

With an air of expectancy growing at home for the public’s national heroes, Ballack says only German success in South Africa will be viewed as acceptable by their public.

“Germany is a nation that has to win,” said Ballack. “When I watched the German athletes at the Olympic Winter Games in February, I thought: it is the same for us. You have to really torture yourself to reach the heights which are expected of you, because you only get respect if you win.”

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

https://twitter.com/GravesenFumado/status/1764242481984491822

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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