Ronaldo out for two more weeks: club

November 6, 2009

Real Madrid’s Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo will be out of action for at least another two weeks, the club said Thursday, after a doctor in Amsterdam examined his injured ankle.

It said new tests by his former doctor, Cornelius Nicolas Van Dijk, “confirmed the diagnosis given by the medical team of Real Madrid obtained after MRI and CT scans” on Tuesday.

Dr. van Dijk will reexamine him in another 15 days, Real said in a statement on its website.

Dutch physician van Dijk, who has also treated Ronaldo’s team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy and AC Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi, previously operated on the Portuguese winger in 2008.

Ronaldo, Real’s record signing at 94 million euros, will definitely miss their Madrid derby meeting with city rivals Atletico on Saturday in the Primera Liga.

He will also be unavailable to play for Portugal in its World Cup qualifying matches against Bosnia on November 14 in Lisbon and on November in Zenica four days.

He initially injured his right ankle in Real’s 3-0 Champions League victory over Marseille at the end of September and aggravated the problem while playing for Portugal on October 10.

Early diagnosis of the injury suggested he would be sidelined for between three and four weeks.

Ronaldo, who signed from Manchester United in the summer, is Real’s top scorer with five goals in the league and four in the Champions League.

MADRID (AFP)

Tags: ac milan, Bosnia, city rivals, cristiano ronaldo, Dr. van Dijk, dutch physician, filippo inzaghi, league victory, Lisbon, madrid derby, manchester united, medical team, nicolas van, Nistelrooy, portugal, primera liga, real madrid, ronaldo, ruud van nistelrooy, team mate, top scorer, van dijk, winger, world cup qualifying matches, zenica

No surprises in Dutch Cup

January 21, 2009

AZ Alkmaar did as expected to beat amateur side Achilles 29 3-0 and secure a spot in the Dutch Cup quarter finals. NEC, Volendam, Roda JC and NAC are through as well.

Pocognoli put AZ ahead in the 11th minute and although Achilles did cause the Eredivisie leaders some trouble, second-half goals from Dembele and Swerts eventually left the visitors without a chance.

NEC needed to come back from behind to beat Sparta 2-1. Rose put the Rotterdam outfit in the lead after just two minutes but Schöne equalised for NEC in the 36th minute and Van Beukering netted the winner ten minutes after the break.

Volendam left it until late to make a difference against Excelsior. Tuyp finally broke the deadlock on 84 minutes, Platje doubled the lead six minutes later and Van Dijk added a third even further into added time.

Amateur side FC Lienden had already shocked Dutch football by making it to the round of sixteen and almost caused another surprise at Roda JC. However, after a goalless 90 minutes, Roda did score through De Jong and Oper in extra time, 2-0.

NAC and Groningen needed a penalty shootout to decide their clash. Boukhari (NAC) and Levchenko (Groningen) scored in regular time, and Idabdelhay thought to have scored the home side’s winner seven minutes into extra time. However, Granqvist netted for 2-2 eight minutes later.

No less than 18 spot kicks were needed to determine which side was to advance to the next round, with Groningen’s Levchenko missing what could have been the winning penalty. Not much later, his side actually ended up losing the shoot-out.

De Graafschap and SC Heerenveen were already through to the quarter finals. ADO Den Haag and FC Twente battle for the remaining ticket on Thursday.

Written by: Jonathan Roorda