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FOOTBALL

Defender Beck last man dropped from World Cup squad

German coach Joachim Löw unveiled his final World Cup squad of 23 players late on Tuesday, with Andreas Beck of Hoffenheim the one man to miss out on the trip to South Africa.

Defender Beck last man dropped from World Cup squad
Photo: DPA

Already without injured captain Michael Ballack, Löw admitted on Saturday he faced making some brutal decisions ahead of submitting his final team.

As well as missing Ballack, who was injured during Chelsea’s FA Cup final win over Portsmouth, Germany will also be without Heiko Westermann, who broke his foot late in the Hungary game at the weekend.

Defender Beck, who made his debut for Germany against Norway in February 2009, was the only player left on the sidelines by Löw.

Germany will begin their World Cup campaign on June 13 against Australia, and will also face Serbia and Ghana in Group D.

Löw’s squad will fly to South Africa on June 7 after a final warm-up game against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Thursday.

The squad:

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Schalke 04), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen), Hans-Jörg Butt (Bayern Munich)

Defenders: Dennis Aogo (Hamburg), Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich), Jerome Boateng (Hamburg), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Marcell Jansen (Hamburg), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Serdar Tasci (Stuttgart)

Midfielders: Sami Khedira (Stuttgart), Toni Kroos (Bayer Leverkusen), Marko Marin (Werder Bremen), Mesut Özil (Werder Bremen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg)

Strikers: Cacau (Stuttgart), Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich), Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich), Lukas Podolski (Cologne)

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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”.

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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