Nico Schlotterbeck has suffered a World Cup-ending injury (Picture: Getty Images)
Germany’s Nico Schlotterbeck will play no further part in the World Cup after suffering a serious ankle injury in the win over Ivory Coast .
The 26-year-old defender was taken off at half-time in Saturday’s 2-1 win in Group E and it has since been confirmed that his tournament is over.
In fact, the Borussia Dortmund star will not be back on the field for a while, with The Athletic reporting that he is expected to be sidelined for several months.
It is clearly a huge setback for the centre-back, but also for Germany as Schlotterbeck was a starter for Julian Nagelsmann in this tournament, named in the starting XI in the first two games.
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He scored his first international goal in Germany’s first game of the tournament, as they romped to a 7-1 win over Curacao.
The 29-cap defender will not be adding to that tally this summer, though, and now Antonio Rudiger is expected to come in to replace him.
The 33-year-old is vastly experienced, with 84 caps to his name and having played at the top level for over a decade with Roma, Chelsea and now Real Madrid.
Schlotterbeck scored in Germany’s rout of Curacao (Picture: Getty Images)
Injuries did not help, but Rudiger only played 18 La Liga games for Real Madrid last season, turning out 26 times in all competitions.
He replaced Schlotterbeck against Ivory Coast and will likely be alongside Jonathan Tah at centre-back in the final group game against Ecuador.
Germany have started the World Cup well, with two wins from two games, but the injury will disrupt their plans and a replacement cannot be called up at this stage.
Antonio Ruediger will likely step into the starting XI (Picture: Getty Images)
German publication Bild reports that Schlotterbeck may not only miss the rest of the World Cup, but could see his club career altered by the injury.
The centre-back has been linked with a huge summer move to Real Madrid, but his chance to shine for his country has now been curtailed.
If he is now set to miss a number of months through the ankle problem, the Spanish giants may be less keen to push for a move this summer as well.
With a place in the knockout stage already secure, Germany look to guarantee they finish top of their group when they meet Ecuador on Thursday.
Ecuador need to win the match after picking up just one point in their first two outings.
