The ice cool striker will not be appearing in Dublin this week...Manchester United front-man Dimitar Berbatov has definitely been ruled out of Bulgaria's World Cup qualifier with the Republic of Ireland on Saturday, due to the effects of the knock he took on the ankle during the Red Devils' weekend defeat at Fulham.
"There’s no chance of Berbatov playing against Ireland and Cyprus. The injury will prevent any kind of football-related activity for the next two weeks," explained team doctor Mihail Iliev, speaking to The Irish Times.
"I have talked to the Manchester United medical staff and I am expecting a fax with the details of the medical scans.
"We are talking about a muscle tear, which means his foot will be immovable for two weeks. It is most likely that he aggravated his old ankle injury."
The Irish take on group leaders Italy, in Bari four days after their game against the Bulgarians at Croke Park, in what could be the pivotal fixture in Group Eight. Both sides are locked on ten points after four games with the Azzurri leading the men in green on goal difference.
Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has been left with a 25-man squad for the two fixtures after Espanyol full-back Steve Finnan, who has missed his country's last two qualifiers with injury, withdrew with a recurrence of his persistent hamstring problem.
0 comments:
Post a Comment