Bernd Schneider out for Germany in Euro ‘08. Unless He’s In.

Last week we got the news that 84-times-capped Germany veteran Bernd Schneider had just had surgery on a herniated disk and would not be playing for Germany in Euro 08.

“Germany midfielder Bernd Schneider will miss the European Championship after back surgery for a slipped disc on Friday.The 34-year-old Schneider won’t play again until July, his team Bayer Leverkusen said. He is out for the rest of the Bundesliga season and Euro 2008, which starts June 7.

The announcement comes a day after Germany coach Joachim Loew said he wanted Schneider in his roster despite his poor form in recent months.”

But not so fast. Now the man himself is telling us it’s not that bad and we should not count him out. Because he really, really wants to play.

The 34-year-old underwent surgery in Hanover on Friday. A press release from his club Leverkusen indicated that he would be out of action until mid-July.

Schneider is refusing to accept that, hoping to recover one month earlier, claiming “if there is a will, there is a way”.

He told the Frankfurter Allgemeinen: “The operation went well and I feel quite good, given the circumstances. My recovery could go quicker than many think.”

It’s enough to give a coach heartburn. Germany coach Joachim Loew was hoping to decide on his squad by May 10, with an official announcement on the 16th. Now he’s hemming and hawing and hedging his bets, saying that he might name a squad larger than the allowed 23 men and trim it down based on the injury situation.

I personally think that six-ish weeks of recovery time for back surgery is a bit optimistic. But I’m not a thirty-four-year-old footballer desperate for a successful swan song.

On an irrelevant note, here are a few bits of interesting trivia on Herr Schneider, brought to you by Wikipedia:

• He and his girlfriend Carina have a 5-year-old daughter, Emely.
• He is one of only two well-known smokers in the German National Team.
• He is also known as ‘The White Brazilian’ in Leverkusen.

For more Germany Euro 2008 news, be sure to check out our Germany page at Euro 2008 on WorldCupBlog.