Schweinsteiger pleased with Euro 2016 preparation

Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger admits he is surprised with his level of fitness ahead of Euro 2016 after playing in Germany’s 2-0 friendly win over Hungary.

The Manchester United star was a doubt for the European Championships this summer after struggling with a number of injuries since he joined the Red Devils last summer.

He made his first competitive appearance since March as Germany enjoyed a routine win over the Hungarians ahead of the Euros.

Centre-back Jerome Boateng admitted he was delighted to see the former Bayern Munich star return just days before the start of their Group C campaign.

Germany, 5.00 to win the tournament, will take on Poland, Ukraine and Northern Ireland in the group stages and Schweinsteiger was delighted to get some minutes under his belt as he tries to prove his fitness.

He told ZDF: “To get 25-30 minutes is pretty good. I wasn’t expecting to get 90 minutes in my first game back. “But I have been able to do already more in the run up to this European Championship than I managed two years ago prior to the World Cup.”

Despite his appearance, manager Joachim Low insists the 31-year-old is not guaranteed to start in the upcoming matches. “There’s no such thing as a first-choice starting XI for this tournament,” he added.

“We’re probably going to need all of our players. Some of them still have a bit of catching up to do and Schweinsteiger is not in a rhythm yet of course. “We’ll have to take a closer look at (Mats) Hummels too, but the substitution of (Sami) Khedira was just a precaution.

“We’re happy we kept a clean sheet and this win gives us stability and a good feeling for the coming week.”