Inter midfield star Patrick Vieira is disconsolate as he faces another lengthy spell on the sidelines.
The ex-Arsenal man has been plagued by injury and he limped off against CSKA Moscow having only just returned from a frustrating period on the treatment table.
It is believed that Vieira could be out of action for as long as two months, but the damage to his right calf is still to be determined.
'He was very down after he came off on Tuesday,' teammate Olivier Dacourt told L'Equipe.
'It was really hard to see that. We tried as hard as we could to pick him up, but he was truly demoralised.'
Tests are still being done to ascertain the extent of the damage, but early indications suggest that Vieira may not feature until December.
16 October 2007
Internazionale striker David Suazo has been banned for one match following his dismissal in the UEFA Champions League game against PSV Eindhoven.
Two goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic clinched victory for Inter in the Group G match earlier this month, before Suazo was red carded in the final minutes for using an elbow.
The Honduras international, who had only come on as a substitute in the 61st minute, will now miss Inter's next Champions League clash against CSKA Moscow on 23rd October.
He will come back into contention for the home game with the Russian a fortnight later.
Suazo, who only joined Inter from Cagliari in the summer, has had to compete with the likes of Adriano, Hernan Crespo and Ibrahimovic for a place in Roberto Mancini's side this season.
05 October 2007
Russia coach Guus Hiddink named a 19-man preliminary squad Friday for his team's European Championship qualifier against England.
Hiddink dropped Udinese midfielder Viktor Budyanskiy and Spartak Moscow half back Vladimir Bystrov from the 23-man squad named for matches in September.
The list, however, can be extended after Russian league matches this weekend.
The team's first practice is scheduled for Wednesday. Russia, which is idle on Oct. 13 when England hosts Estonia, will have a week to prepare for the crucial match against the English.
Russia is third in Group E with 18 points from nine matches, two points behind England. Croatia leads the standings with 23 points.
To qualify for the Euro 2008 tournament in Switzerland and Austria, Russia must win its remaining three matches against England, Israel and Andorra.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Vyacheslav Malafeev (Zenit St. Petersburg), Anton Shunin (Dynamo Moscow), Vladimir Gabulov (Kuban)
Defenders: Alexander Anyukov (Zenit St. Petersburg), Alexei Berezutskiy (CSKA Moscow), Vasiliy Berezutskiy (CSKA Moscow), Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), Denis Kolodin (Dynamo Moscow)
Midfielders: Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow), Ivan Saenko (FC Nuremberg), Igor Semshov (Dynamo Moscow), Konstantin Zyryanov (Zenit St. Petersburg), Dmitry Torbinskiy (Spartak Moscow)
Forwards: Alexander Kerzhakov (Sevilla), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St. Petersburg), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Zenit St. Petersburg), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak Mosocw), Dmitry Sychev (Lokomotiv Moscow)
01 October 2007
PSV Eindhoven have been handed an untimely blow with the news that defender Manuel Da Costa has been ruled out through injury.
The former Portugal Under-21 international will now miss the Dutch club's trip to the Giuseppe Meazza to face Inter on Tuesday evening in the Champions League.
The Dutch champions' manager Ronald Koeman has been forced to bring in Brazilian defender Fagner in Da Costa's place.
PSV currently sit atop Group G following their 2-1 win over CSKA Moscow in the first round of matches.
Inter remain favourites to beat the Eredivisie side and finish top though, despite a shock 1-0 loss to Fenerbahce their opening game of the group stage.
Da Costa was at the centre of controversy last week when PSV were expelled from The Dutch Cup for fielding him ineligibly after it was revealed he had played against Heerenveen in the competition despite being suspended for the game.
