MADRID, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Spain coach Vicente del Bosque faces an injury crisis as he plans for his side's next two qualification（资格,条件） matches for the 2012 European Championships.
The Spain coach took the decision to rest Barcelona midfielder(中场队员) Xavi Hernandez when he named his squad to face Lithuania and Scotland last Thursday, while Arsenal's Cesc Fabrigas was also ruled out with an injury he suffered a fortnight earlier.
This weekend's round of domestic matches has seen several other key players forced to withdraw with different injuries.
Liverpool striker Fernando Torres' miserable early season continued as he was forced out of his side's home defeat against Blackpool after just 10 minutes. Torres has a groin problem and will almost certainly miss the forthcoming matches.
Del Bosque's options in attack were further limited when Barcelona's Pedro Rodriguez limped out of Barca's 1-1 draw at home to Mallorca suffering from a hamstring injury.
Sevilla's Jesus Navas is also ruled out with muscle problem and didn't play during his club's league win against Atletico Madrid.
Those injuries would have almost certainly have handed a start to Villarreal's in form Santi Cazorla, but Cazorla was also a weekend victim, leaving his side's 2-0 win at home to Racing Santander with a probable groin injury.
Those injuries（伤害） would have left Athletic Club Bilbao's Javi Martinez in line for a recall, but the player who had been named in the Under-21 squad, also picked up a knock against Valencia and is also doubtful.
Del Bosque will now have to name ay least two replacements with Valencia's Pablo Hernandez, Sevilla's Alvaro Negredo and Valencia forward Aritz Aduriz among those in line for a call up.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑) |