Cameroon lose their captain as Samuel Eto’o pulls out of Croatia game
CameroonSamuel Eto’o, the Cameroon captain, will miss Wednesday’s match against Croatia and may play no further part in the World Cup because of a knee injury, he and team officials said.
Eto’o tweeted news of his injury and Cameroon’s media spokesman, Laurence Fotso, said: “Eto’o has been told by the doctors he cannot play for the next 10 days.” That would rule the striker out of the final group game against Brazil in Brasília next Monday.
Eto’o has battled with the knee problem from the end of the English league season with Chelsea. “For three and a half months, I have not had the time to recover,” he told Cameroon state television on Sunday. “You could see that even in the buildup to the World Cup I hadn’t had a lot of practice.” He said he felt pain from the ninth minute of Cameroon’s opening World Cup match, against Mexico, which he finished. Reuters
Italy
The midfielder Daniele De Rossi has neck pain and is sitting out training, adding to Italy’s injury problems. The centre-back Andrea Barzagli worked out individually on Monday to rest the various aches and pains he has struggled with for months.
The captain, Gianluigi Buffon, and full-back Mattia De Sciglio also remained out. Buffon hurt his left ankle and knee a day before Italy’s 2-1 win over England. De Sciglio missed their opener with a pulled muscle.
Salvatore Sirigu, who performed well in goal in Buffon’s absence against England, was also treated at the end of Monday’s training session under a torrid sun at the Portobello resort. Sirigu had ice applied to his neck after suffering from the heat but said it was not a concern. AP