SOCHI, Russia -- Germany defender Benjamin Henrichs has warned that Die Mannschaft need to keep a close eye on his Bayer Leverkusen teammate Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez in Thursday's Confederations Cup semifinal against Mexico.
The 20-year-old full-back hopes Joachim Low gives him a start against El Tri as Germany seek to win the tournament for the first time. He is looking to stop Hernandez, who returned to training on Tuesday after sitting out a day earlier.
"I hope I will play and I will stop him from scoring," Henrichs told reporters on Tuesday. "It's very difficult to play against him. He likes to score and even if there isn't really a chance he scores, so he's a very good player."
Henrichs said Hernandez has given him advice at Bayer Leverkusen and the two get along off the pitch. The youngster -- who signed a new contract with Die Werkself back in May -- believes the game against Mexico will be a tough test.
"I think [Mexico] is similar to Chile," he said. "We have to play well tactically, you need to stop Chicharito, because he's a very good individual player and I hope we are going to win."
Hernandez didn't train along with the full squad on Monday in Kazan, but is expected to be fit to face Germany in Fisht Stadium on Thursday, although Diego Reyes is likely to miss the game through injury.
"They know how we play and what our mentality is and that clearly helps us," added Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, speaking in Spanish when asked about Mexico having Bundesliga players Hernandez and Marco Fabian.
"But we are lucky enough to know some of their players that play in European leagues and can prepare ourselves for not a war, but a good game."
