Hoffenheim’s Ba sidelined for three weeks

January 19, 2010

German side Hoffenheim will have to do without striker Demba Ba for about three weeks. The player is suffering from a thigh muscle injury.

Hoffenheim manager Ralf Rangnick confirmed the player’s absence to German sports magazine Kicker.

Ba, who joined Hoffenheim in 2007 and helped the side reach Germany’s top flight, played a total of 13 matches this season and scored four goals. Up front, the Frenchman has to compete with a number of other strikers, most notably Vedad Ibisevic.

As there are several others to take Ba’s place, Rangnick reaffirmed that the club would not attract any new players during the winter break.

Tags: absence, Demba, demba ba, frenchman, german side, german sports, Germany, kicker, manager, Ralf Rangnick, sports magazine, strikers, thigh muscle injury, top flight, Vedad, winter break

Real Cup-hijacked by third division minnows

October 28, 2009

Real Madrid were given a Spanish Cup shock on Tuesday when third division minnows and unheralded city neighbours Alcorcon dished out a 4-0 drubbing to the nine-time European champions.

The tiny provincial side, with a miniscule annual budget of just 1.2 million euros – 300 times less than their esteemed visitors – added a notable footnote to their modest history in front of their home fans at the 3,000-capacity Estadio Municipal de Santo Domingo.

Real were undone by the club which was only founded in 1971 with an own goal by former Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa, Borja Perez’s brace, and Ernesto Gomez.

Not pleasant viewing for Real president Florentino Perez and club director Jorge Valdano watching from the stands.

If they fail to overturn the lopsided scoreline in the second leg of this Last 32 tie it will by no means be the first time Real Madrid have bid a hasty farewell to the Copa del Rey.

The Spanish giants, who last collected the title way back in 1993, were kicked out of Spain’s premier cup competition in 2008 by Third Division side Real Union, a loss that triggered the dismissal of coach Bernd Schuster.

Real’s embarrassing defeat on Tuesday came despite the presence of Raul and Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini welcoming back injured strikers Karim Benzema and Ruud van Nistelrooy but Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain, who also missed the club’s 0-0 draw with Sporting Gijon last weekend, were still sidelined.

Frenchman Benzema was injured in both feet while Dutchman van Nistelrooy has been out for several weeks with a thigh muscle injury.

Pellegrini elected to rest several top players, including Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso and Kaka, for the match.

Tuesday’s reverse came after a bad seven days which started with Real losing to AC Milan in the Champions League and then the goalless draw at Gijon.

Alcorcon’s achievement meanwhile knocked a sizeable dent in Pellegrini’s pre-match assertion that Real’s ambition was “to win every competition”.

MADRID (AFP)

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Injured Iniesta to miss Confederations Cup

June 5, 2009

MADRID (AFP) – Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta dropped out of the Spain squad for the Confederations Cup because of an injury and will be replaced by Valencia’s Pablo Hernandez, the Spanish Football Federation said Friday.

Medical tests carried out on the 25-year-old confirmed that his thigh muscle injury was more serious than previously thought and could require him to be sidelined for up to two months, it said in a statement.

“There is a strong chance of a relapse. He already had one in the Champions League final and we don’t want another. He needs a long period of recuperation,” federation doctor Oscar Celada told a news conference.

Iniesta picked up the injury at the beginning of last month and he aggravated it during Barcelona’s 2-0 Champions League final win over Manchester United in Rome at the end of May.

Iniestsa is a key member of the Spain squad and he helped Barcelona to win the treble this season.

Spain will play a friendly away to Azerbaijan on June 9 before making their way to South Africa for the Confederations Cup which gets under way five days later.