Germany will play without B. Schweinsteiger © EuroFootball.com

The goalkeeper of the German national team and Munich club, Bastian Schweinsteiger, will not be able to help his country in two qualifying matches for the 2008 European Championship due to a nagging knee injury.

The 22-year-old footballer will miss two home games: on June 2 in Nuremberg against San Marino and on June 6 in Hamburg against the Slovakian team.

The goalkeeper believes that rest will ensure his good physical condition for the upcoming 2007-2008 season, as this year's Bundesliga championship was very unsuccessful for Bayern Munich and with only one round left until the end of the season, the Munich team is in 4th place and has no chance of moving up.

"I would like to participate in these two games (against San Marino and Slovakia), but I give priority to the club," said the young goalkeeper. "I don't think Bayern would be happy if I arrived at the team injured after the summer."

The German national team is currently in 1st place in Group D of the 2008 European Championship qualifiers, with the same number of points as the Czech Republic and Ireland.