Good news for German team

While Manuel Neuer only participated in light running training at Germany's training camp in northern Italy on Thursday, Phillip Lahm actually kicked a ball, a couple of days after he first returned. Both have been among national team head coach Joachim Löw's worries, for the past two weeks, since Lahm injured his foot and Neuer his shoulder while playing for Bayern Munich in the German Cup final.

Among the other worries for Löw are left back Marcel Schmelzer, who is still nursing a bruised knee, and like Neuer, was only up to some light running - and midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who joined the rest of the squad in its regular training session. Midfielder Sami Khedira also isn't fully recovered from his knee injury.

With Germany's opening World Cup match against Portugal just over two weeks away, Löw's worries can't be over completely, but he insisted to reporters on Thursday that he was "confident" that all of the players would be ready on time.

Team doctor Tim Meyer also told the press conference that he was "relatively confident" that they would win their race against the clock.

However, reporters didn't get much time to make their own assessment of how any on the injured list are progressing, as coach Löw again shut reporters out after just 20 minutes, insisting that the mainly secret training was key to their preparations for Brazil.

Team manager Oliver Bierhoff also pointed to the presence of Julian Draxler and Benedikt Höwedes on the training ground as positive news. Both were passengers in cars driven by German Formula One pilot Nico Rosberg and DTM driver Pascal Wehrlein when they crashed on a closed-off road, injuring a local track marshall and a German tourist during a Mercedes-sponsored event.

Series of mishaps

This was clearly the worst in a series of mishaps surrounding the national team in recent weeks, including coach Löw being slapped with a 6-month driving ban after being caught speeding and using his phone.

Kevin Grosskreutz' chances of making the final 23-man squad couldn't have been helped when he got caught urinating in a hotel lobby after the Cup final in Berlin.

Meanwhile, Lars Bender is already back home after tearing a thigh muscle in an earlier training session.

As for those still in northern Italy, reporters could get a better idea of how all of the recently injured are recovering on Sunday, when Germany takes on Cameroon in their penultimate friendly ahead of the World Cup.

pfd/dr (dpa, Reuters, AFP)