Michael Ballack out of opener for Germany

Germany will have to do their best against Costa Rica without star midfielder Michael Ballack as he has been ruled out of their first match.

Ballack is out due to an injury to his right calf.

"The most important thing for us is that he gets healthy again as quickly as possible," Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann said.

Ballack denied reports that he waited too long to get his injury checked by doctors, therefore making it worse.

Ballack joins England's Wayne Rooney, Italy's Gianluca Zambrotta, Gennaro Gattuso and Alessandro Nesta and France's Djibril Cisse, as high quality players who are either fully or partially out of the cup.