[M|ch]

Real Madrid and coach Bernd Schuster’s worst fears have come true when the club doctors confirmed that midfielder Wesley Sneijder will be sidelined for at least three months.

The Dutch midfielder playmaker – who had a stunning Euro 2008 campaign – is almost certain to miss the rest of the year after suffering a severe knee injury against Arsenal during the 1-0 loss in the Emirates Cup.
The player was visibly in distress as he was stretchered out of the pitch while his coach, Bernd Schuster and the rest of his teammates were fearing the worse possible outcome. And the worse, it appears could come true when Madrid’s club doctor Juan Carlos Hernández confirmed that Sneijder has tore the interior lateral ligament in his left knee and possibly the cruciate ligament.
“If it was only the interior lateral ligament, he could avoid the operating room and he would only need three months to recover,” Hernández explained.
“But if he also tore the cruciate, then we will need to operate and the recovery period is expected to be six months,” the doctor continued.
The 24 year old will undergo further examinations on Monday at the Moraleja Clinic on Monday to determine the full extent of the injury.
Meanwhile, president Ramón Calderón was understandably upset with the injury to his prized playmaker: “We are very displeased with the news. It’s a serious injury and it’s the worse news that we could get.
“He has, at least, torn his internal knee ligament. He is upset, crying, because it’s a serious problem and he’s in a lot of pain.
“He is a very important player for us but such is the sport. We all feel bad for him. He has had very bad luck,” the president lamented.
KS Leong