Germanyââ¬â¢s hopes of having a fully fit squad in the Brazil World Cup received a boost on Wednesday when holding midfielders Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira trained with the team for the first time.
Bayern Munichââ¬â¢s Schweinsteiger has endured an injury-ridden season with an inflamed knee the latest setback to keep him out of action in recent weeks.
Khedira, who formed a solid midfield partnership with Schweinsteiger in the previous two tournaments for Germany, has only recently returned to action after a six-month layoff due to a torn cruciate ligament in his knee last year.
He has played only a handful of games since his recovery, including starting for Real Madridââ¬â¢s victorious Champions League side last week, and only joined his Germany team mates on Monday evening.
Both players appeared to be moving freely on the pitch on a sunny day in the Italian Alps, the site of Germanyââ¬â¢s pre-tournament training camp.
It was not all good news for coach Joachim Loew, however, with captain Philipp Lahm completing just a light training run on Wednesday while injured defender Marcel Schmelzer also worked out alone.
Keeper Manuel Neuer has been ruled out for at least a few more days and will not train at all in Italy as he recovers from a shoulder injury with team officials insisting his participation was not in doubt.
Germany, who have been drawn with Ghana, the US and Portugal in Group G, play warm-up games against Cameroon on June 1 and Armenia on June 6 before departing for Brazil.