Germany midfielder Khedira buys 1,200 tickets for charity

STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Germany midfielder Sami Khedira has bought 1,200 tickets for Monday's World Cup qualifier against Norway in his native Stuttgart and donated them to charity.

The tickets have been distributed to socially disadvantaged children and children fighting cancer in the region so they can attend the game through an initiative organized by Khedira's foundation.

The Juventus midfielder says "it just came about for the national game here in Stuttgart. For me personally, it was important not just to give money, but that the kids themselves could get something from it. Most wouldn't have had the chance to attend a game for various reasons, financial or logistical."

Germany will qualify for the World Cup from Group C if it wins and second-place Northern Ireland fails to beat the Czech Republic in Belfast.