Schweinsteiger's fitness improving

Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is expected to be fit in time to play Portugal in Germany's opening Euro 2012 match.

Schweinsteiger did not feature in the national side's 2-0 win over Israel on Thursday after picking up a calf problem but head coach Joachim Low believes he is now returning to full fitness. He told Bild: "Schweinsteiger is now pain-free again for the first time. He can perhaps train again with the team on Monday or Tuesday." The Germany Football Association has meanwhile given its backing to Low, who has received criticism following the country's less-than-impressive build-up to Euro 2012 which saw them lose 5-3 to Switzerland before scraping past Israel in a mediocre affair. Technical director Matthias Sammer issued a statement which read: "The outcome surely could not be so catastrophic that the high-quality job that Jogi has done over such a long period of time can be seen in a different light without success at the European Championship. "In the event of that happening, we would just have to go through a difficult phase with this national team coach."