Antonio Rudiger has been cruelly ruled out of Euro2016 after sustaining a serious knee injury at Germany training on Tuesday.
The AS Roma defender twisted awkwardly and collapsed on the training pitch as Die Mannschaft prepared for their opening Group C fixture against Ukraine on Saturday.
It has been confirmed that Rudiger, 23, has suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and will now be sidelined for the tournament in France as well as facing a lengthy spell out of the game next season.
A statement from the German team read: "The Germany international has been ruled out of the European Championship after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during Die Mannschaft's first training session in Evian.
"This was confirmed by an examination carried out by Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt and the medical team.
"Joachim Low and the rest of the management team will now make a decision on whether they will call up a replacement, with UEFA regulations allowing them to do so until the first match day."
Germany boss Joachim Low now has until the weekend to call up a replacement for the centre-back who had been featuring in recent matches alongside Jerome Boateng.
Get well soon, Bro!
Gute Besserung, Bro!@DFB_Team@ToniRuedigerpic.twitter.com/AG6QfVnUW1
— Jerome Boateng (@JB17Official) June 7, 2016
