Football Update: Ryan Giggs out with a hamstring injury and Chelsea & Israel in disagreement over Yossi Banyoun's injury
Manchester United played a 2-2 draw against West Brom on Saturday in English Premier League. Ryan Giggs was substituted right before the first half, and United camp later revealed that Giggs had aggravated a hamstring injury and would not be fit for the UEFA Champions League match midweek.
The fact that Giggs had been out with an injury for more than 2 weeks, and had worked hard to get back in the team was more frustrating for the Welshman.
The left winger had to be withdrawn with just 5 minutes left in the half against West Brom. Full extent of the injury till now has not been confirmed which is another reason for him to worry.
Giggs was understandably very upset about the injury, after the match he said that injures are a part of the game. But at this stage of his career and at his age it is not always just another injury, he said at the age of 36 one has to take extra caution and take every problem seriously. The Welsh international added that he has always tried to maintain his fitness and made sure that he is an asset rather than a liability to the team. He added that the latest injury is frustrating but he would work hard on the training grounds to get back his fitness.
The injury would also come as another minor headache for United manager Sir Alex, who has his hands full with the Rooney issue. Ferguson while talking to the media after the West Brom match said that he was not sure about the injury lay off for Giggs, but admitted that it may be longer than expected.
"The loss of Ryan as a wide player was a big one for us."
"He has done his hamstring again. He got it against Bolton but he had trained all week and had been doing very well, but it has gone again and maybe we need to give him a longer recovery." said Ferguson.
Meanwhile, there is a club versus country row going on between Chelsea and Israel football association. The London club had made claims that midfielder Yossi Benayoun came back from international duty with an Achilles tendon injury, while the football association from Israel has denied those claims.
The former Liverpool player is expected to be out for several months following the injury, but Israel football association said that the player came to Israel with the injury.
Gil Lebanony the IFA chief spokesman said that when Benayoun joined Israel team he was not able to practice, and was not a 100 %. He said that Yossi was asked to try out his fitness on the field but he could not do it for even a short amount of time.
Gil Lebanony added that Benayoun came to Israel with the pain in his Achilles, and Chelsea medical team had already given him the diagnosis that he had a tear in his tendon. He went on to say that, as soon as he arrived the medical team for Israel team quickly sent him for further checkups and an MRI was conducted. After which a big tear was identified and he was declared not fit to play. The spokesman said that the team management is sorry that Yossi is not fit to play as he is a very important player for the national team and also for Chelsea. He added that still the national team is not to blame for the injury and just to confirm once again Benayoun came to international duty with the Achilles injury.
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