The coach of the German national team, Gordon Herbert, said that Franz Wagner has not yet fully recovered from his injury.
On Friday, Germany plays match against Georgia in Group K, and one of the main assets of the Germans is under question for that match.
Wagner suffered an ankle injury in the first match of the tournament against Japan. After a minor mid-air collision with a Japanese player, the 21-year-old German landed awkwardly on his left ankle.
Franz Wagner can be seen without a boot in this video per Germany’s IG account at practice ahead of their matchup against Finland Tuesday. Wagner suffered a left ankle injury in the final quarter of the opener against Japan causing him to miss Germany’s matchup against Australia pic.twitter.com/0pdZ7iBZWY
— Fawzan Amer (@FawzanAmer_) August 28, 2023
“We will decide in the morning when we see the situation”. “He trained a little today, but that will be the decision of the medical team.” He didn’t play 5 on 5 today,” the German coach answered after being asked about Wagner’s availability for Friday’s match.
Herbert then turned his attention to the next opponent, the national team of Georgia.
“We didn’t have the opportunity to face such a backcourt line in the previous part of the tournament, in terms of playing in the post and looking for opportunities for an offensive jump. It will be a bachelor game”.
The Canadian also used the opportunity to praise his centre, Daniel Theis.
“For me, Theis was excellent from the first day he came to the national team camp. He is the best player that no one talks about,” Gordon Herbert said.
“He and Dennis Schroder work well together. Obviously they grew up together, they played together, so they have a really good relationship. Offensively, that’s something that can’t be taught, they just have it.”