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Ballack likely to miss Costa Rica match
BERLIN, Jun 7 (SW) - Germany midfielder Michael Ballack has been ruled a serious doubt and will likely miss Friday's World Cup opener against Costa Rica after failing a training session on Wednesday.
Ballack had missed several days of training with a calf injury and faced a runout today in front of the training staff who declared him unfit to play in Munich.
Germany manager Jürgen Klinsmann had stated previously that if a player was unable to train two days before a match that they would not be selected to play in the game, and now Werder Bremen's Tim Borowski would deputize.
Chelsea midfielder Ballack's absence will be his second straight game missed in the World Cup finals having previously missed the final against Brazil in 2002 through suspension.
The 29-year-old suffered the injury in a friendly last week against Colombia.
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