Germany's Adler out of World Cup

Germany's first-choice goalkeeper René Adler has been ruled out of the FIFA World Cup finals after it was decided he needed surgery on a broken rib.

The 25-year-old suffered the injury in Bayer 04 Leverkusen's Bundesliga game against VfB Stuttgart on 17 April and, although he played against Hertha BSC Berlin on Saturday, Adler admitted the pain was too much. "Technically it would have been possible [to play in the World Cup], but the pain is substantial enough to prevent me from delivering my best form over the course of the tournament," he said. "That can't be allowed in such an important tournament. You need to have players at peak fitness."

Germany coach Joachim Löw is due to announce his provisional squad for the South Africa this Thursday, and said: "We're very sorry René will have to undergo surgery and miss out on the World Cup. We'll have to discuss who we take as a replacement and announce our decision at the press conference on Thursday."

Löw, who stated he will not be including FC Schalke 04 striker Kevin Kuranyi in his squad, will also be without Adler's Leverkusen club-mate Simon Rolfes at this summer's finals as the defensive midfielder has not recovered from an operation on damaged cartilage in his right knee. The 28-year-old initially had surgery in October and returned to action in January, but a scan revealed further damage and he has not played since undergoing more surgery.