
Chelsea
forward Andre Schurrle has been ruled out of Germany's European Qualifier
against the Republic of Ireland tonight due a bout of flu.
The German Football Association (DFB) confirmed the news on its website just
hours before the Group D clash at the Veltins Arena in what is a further
blow for coach Joachim Low - now without six of his World Cup winners.
Schurrle joined captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, Christoph Kramer, Mesut
Ozil, Benedikt Howedes and Sami Khedira on the sidelines.
The world champions face the Republic having surrendered a 33-game unbeaten
run in qualifiers with a 2-0 defeat in Poland on Saturday - a result which
followed a friendly loss to Argentina and a narrow victory over Scotland in
Euro qualifying.
Germany sit third in the pool, three points behind Poland and the Republic,
who are joint top after two wins each.
Low insisted he would not make too many changes to his team, although
Schalke's Julian Draxler is expected to be drafted in on his home ground
after shaking off a virus.