Fabregas picks up fresh injury

She said in a short statement that an X-ray had shown no bone damage and ‘his participation had not been ruled out for the second semis at Durban's Moses Mabhida stadium. Fabregas picked up the injury in Monday's training at the Spanish base in Potchefstroom.

The midfielder has yet to start in the tournament so far but came on as a second-half substitute for Fernando Torres in Spain's 1-0 quarterfinal win over Paraguay on Saturday. He was already struggling with a shoulder injury picked up in that match and had said he was prepared to have a pain-killing injection on it so he could play against the Germans if needed.

Fabregas helped Spain win the 2008 European Championship in Vienna when they beat Germany 1-0 in the final. Meanwhile, Germany's injury worries have cleared up ahead of the semifinal.

Germany will be without suspended midfielder Thomas Mueller but Sami Khedira and Cacau, who have been training separately for the past two days, were available to coach Joachim Loew, said Bierhoff.

Central defender Arne Friedrich, who had a foot problem, also sat out training on Monday but will be ready to play.  "The most important thing is for the coach to be able to pick from all the squad except for Mueller," said Bierhoff who said the team would cope with the absence of the exciting 20-year-old.

"In a tournament a team settles and so Thomas's absence is a little link in the chain missing and he has been outstanding," said the Germany team manager. "The team have reacted admirably whenever key players (have been) missing," he said.