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BERLIN (AP) — Germany forward Lukas Podolski has been ruled out of his country's European Championship qualifiers against Ireland and Georgia with a left ankle injury.
The German football federation (DFB) says Podolski travelled with a swollen ankle from his club Galatasaray and was diagnosed upon arrival in Frankfurt with "a painful capsule irritation of the left upper ankle joint."
The DFB says Podolski left the German team's base Tuesday and was returning to his club for further treatment.
Coach Joachim Loew still has 22 players in his squad, though Bayer Leverkusen winger Karim Bellarabi was laboring with a shoulder problem.
Germany needs one point from its final Group D games against Ireland in Dublin on Thursday or Georgia in Leipzig on Sunday to ensure qualification for its 12th consecutive European Championship.
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