Bayern tell injured Karl his World Cup time will come

Bayern Munich have attempted to cheer up their young player Lennart Karl after he was ruled out of Germany‘s World Cup squad with a thigh injury.

“Missing out on a World Cup at such short notice naturally hurts a lot, and the news was a shock for the whole of Bayern,” Bayern board member for sport Max Eberl said in a statement on Saturday.

“But it changes nothing about how much talent, passion and future success Lenny has in him. He more than deserved this World Cup with his outstanding first professional season.”

Eberl said Karl would receive “all the support” at Bayern “to be able to be back on the pitch soon – and we all know that he still has many big tournaments ahead of him. He himself is already looking forward again and says he will come back stronger. That is what I like about him, and that is the spirit it takes in moments like these.”

Karl’s withdrawal was announced nine days before Germany’s first World Cup group match against Curaçao.

The 18-year-old winger was hurt during a training session in Chicago on Friday. RB Leipzig player Assan Ouedraogo, 20, has been called up to the 26-man squad to replace Karl.