Five players from the German selection have been placed in quarantine after one of them tested positive for Covid-19, the German Football Association (DFB) said on Tuesday. The infected player is fully vaccinated and currently asymptomatic, said the DFB, without revealing the identity of the latter. The daily image says he is center-back Niklas Süle, mainstay of Bayern Munich.
Four other players have been asked to isolate themselves because they have been in contact with the player who tested positive, even though they themselves tested negative, the DFB said. “This news, which comes so close to the close of qualifying for the World Cup, is bitter for the coaching staff as well as for ‘Mannschaft’,” said DFB Managing Director Oliver Bierhoff.
And the Kimmich case resurfaces
Already qualified for the 2022 World Cup, Germany faces Liechtenstein on November 11 and will travel to Armenia three days later. The DFB’s announcement comes as Germany battles an upsurge in new coronavirus infections, with the seven-day incidence rate reaching a new record on Tuesday.
He also shines the spotlight on Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich: The Daily image wonders about the consequences that the detection of this positive case could have for the German international who recently hit the headlines by explaining that he did not want to be vaccinated.
Kimmich, captain of Germany in a recent qualifying game, sparked a heated debate in the country last month, justifying his choice on “personal concerns”. The controversy had even prompted the Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer to challenge him directly, urging him to change his mind because “vaccination is the main weapon in the fight against the pandemic”.
