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Germany's Frings trains in race for fitness

Society Materials 22 June 2008 22:47 (UTC +04:00)

Germany midfielder Torsten Frings resumed his race to for fitness by joining team-mates in training Sunday as he recovers from a fractured rib.

All the German squad were on the field to resume training after being given some time off following Thursday's 3-2 quarter-final victory over Portugal at Euro 2008.

Frings missed the victory over Portugal after cracking his rib in Germany's 1-0 defeat of Austria in their last group match six days ago.

He now hopes to be availaible for Wednesday's semi-final against Turkey in Basle, but may have to wear a rib protector.

It was unclear what part Frings played in Sunday evening's training session with only the first 15 minutes open to the media.

"We are continuing to work to get Torsten ready to play," team manager Oliver Bierhoff said.

Frings, 31, is a key player for Germany in midfield, and if fully fit would be expected to return against Turkey.

Loew, however, may want to retain a 4-2-3-1 system used against Portugal in which Bayer Leverkusen's Simon Rolfes and Stuttgart's Thomas Hitzslperger came in to fill defensive midfield roles.

Meanwhile goalkeeper Jens Lehmann warned team-mates not to get carried away by the win over Portugal.

"The victory was not as great as all that," he told Germany's ARD television. He said there had been glaring mistakes in Germany's build-up play which Portugal failed to punish, dpa reported.

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