Essien ruled out, Torres recovering
Source: Agencies |
May 29, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
GHANA'S World Cup preparations suffered a huge setback on Thursday when midfielder Michael Essien was ruled out with a knee injury as Spain's Fernando Torres made progress in his recovery from a knee problem.
Described by Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac as the leader and engine room of his team, Essien picked up the injury in January and the Chelsea player will be sorely missed at soccer's biggest event which starts on June 11 in South Africa.
"An evaluation by a combined team of medical experts from the Ghana Football Association and Chelsea Football Club revealed that Essien will not make a full recovery until the end of July," Ghana's FA said on its Website.
There was better news for Essien's fellow Premier League player Torres, who trained with the Spain squad for the first time after surgery on his right knee last month.
"He's said he'll be fit in time for our first match, which is good news," winger Juan Mata said.
Spain's Group H opponents Honduras will have to raise their game when they face the European champions after being held to a 2-2 draw by Belarus in a friendly in Austria.
Honduras went ahead through Julio Cesar de Leon midway through the first half before conceding two goals in four minutes and having to rely through Edgar Alvarez to spare their blushes in the second half.
Denmark celebrated a comfortable 2-0 victory over Senegal on the eve of its departure to South Africa but must wait to learn the extent of center back Simon Kjaer's knee injury after he was taken off on a stretcher in Aalborg.
Elsewhere, South Africa edged Colombia 2-1 in Johannesburg, where police were called in yesterday to control angry crowds trying to buy seats for the World Cup after FIFA's ticketing system collapsed.
Described by Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac as the leader and engine room of his team, Essien picked up the injury in January and the Chelsea player will be sorely missed at soccer's biggest event which starts on June 11 in South Africa.
"An evaluation by a combined team of medical experts from the Ghana Football Association and Chelsea Football Club revealed that Essien will not make a full recovery until the end of July," Ghana's FA said on its Website.
There was better news for Essien's fellow Premier League player Torres, who trained with the Spain squad for the first time after surgery on his right knee last month.
"He's said he'll be fit in time for our first match, which is good news," winger Juan Mata said.
Spain's Group H opponents Honduras will have to raise their game when they face the European champions after being held to a 2-2 draw by Belarus in a friendly in Austria.
Honduras went ahead through Julio Cesar de Leon midway through the first half before conceding two goals in four minutes and having to rely through Edgar Alvarez to spare their blushes in the second half.
Denmark celebrated a comfortable 2-0 victory over Senegal on the eve of its departure to South Africa but must wait to learn the extent of center back Simon Kjaer's knee injury after he was taken off on a stretcher in Aalborg.
Elsewhere, South Africa edged Colombia 2-1 in Johannesburg, where police were called in yesterday to control angry crowds trying to buy seats for the World Cup after FIFA's ticketing system collapsed.
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