Germany’s Reus to miss Ukraine friendly

Posted Wednesday, November 09, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

Germany midfielder Marco Reus is out of Friday's friendly against the Ukraine in Kiev, because of intestinal 'flu—the fifth time the rising Moenchengladbach star has had to cry off for his country.

The 22-year-old has been in stellar form for 'Gladbach this season with seven goals in 12 league games, but illness meant he could not join up with the Germany squad on Tuesday.

It remains to be seen whether he will be fit for next Tuesday's friendly against the Netherlands in Hamburg, when he could win his third cap having made appearances off the bench against Turkey and Belgium last month.

"According to his condition from Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning, it is not feasible for him to travel due to health reasons," said the German Football Federation (DFB) in a statement.

He is the second German to drop out of Friday's match at Kiev's Olympic Stadium after veteran striker Miroslav Klose withdrew on Monday with a knee injury.

Reus has earned the nickname 'Bad-luck Bird' ('Pechvogel' in German) having already had a long history of crying off for Germany, starting back in May 2010 when he missed the friendly win over Malta with a bruised leg.

He also withdrew from the friendly against Uruguay in May this year with a leg injury and the same problem ruled him out of Germany's Euro 2012 qualifiers against Austria and Azerbaijan in June.

Then a groin injury in September kept him out of the final qualifier victory over Austria and the 2-2 friendly draw with Poland in Gdansk.