Germany give Schweinsteiger time off

Midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger will miss Germany's UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers against Austria and Azerbaijan next month due to a fractured toe, while Marcel Schmelzer is also an injury doubt.

The 26-year-old Schweinsteiger will not be available for the 29 May friendly against Uruguay or the Group A meetings with Austria on 3 June and Azerbaijan four days later as he bids to recover from fracturing the middle toe on his right foot in FC Bayern München's 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt on 23 April.

The 87-times capped international elected to play through the pain as he helped Bayern secure third place in the Bundesliga and a berth in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League play-offs. A spokesman for the Bavarian club said: "We did not publicise the injury as we were too worried someone would then step on Bastian's foot." Schweinsteiger's injury will now be given a chance to heal.

Borussia Dortmund left-back Schmelzer, meanwhile, is hoping to recover in time for the Uruguay game despite being ruled out for five or six days with torn fibres in a hip muscle. The 23-year-old is the only player to have featured in every minute of Dortmund's title-winning season. Germany have won all five of their Group A games so far.