West Ham United striker Robbie Keane out of Wales clash
Newly signed West Ham United striker http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robbie-Keane-c31215 has been ruled out of Carling Nations Cup’s fixture against Republic of Ireland and Wales.
The player suffered a calf injury while playing for his new employers in their 1-0 defeat to Birmingham City and would play no part for Ireland in the upcoming international duty.
The former Tottenham and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 player scored in his debut fixture against Blackpool in midweek, but lasted only 15 minutes in the Birmingham City fixture before stretching his calf muscle.
It has been confirmed by West Ham United manager Avram Grant that the 30-year-old would not be available for international duty on Tuesday and would sit out the League fixture against West Bromwich Albion as well. That would be a huge blow for the Hammers,
as the West Brom match would be crucial for their survival in the Premier League.
“Robbie Keane is injured. His calf has tightened. We will have to wait and see. I hope he will be fit for next weekend but he will not be fit for the international,” stated the West Ham manager.
Republic of Ireland manager http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Anthony-Stokes-c6239 as a possible replacement for the injured forward. However, Keane himself has not ruled himself out of the clash, so the manager has to wait for Keane’s condition
before the fixture.
In addition, Newcastle striker Leon Best, who scored in the Magpies come-from-behind draw against Arsenal, has also been ruled out owing to injury and Bristol City striker Andy Keogh has been called up as his replacement.
It is going to be the first time that the Carling Nations Cup would be played. The idea was proposed by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Northern-Ireland-c2972 manager Lawrie Sanchez in 2006 and Carling accepted the sponsorship of the tournament. Only four teams compete in this all-British competition
which includes http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Republic-of-Ireland-c2987.
It would be a good competition for these countries as neither of them qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2010 and are highly unlikely to qualify for the European Competition which would take place in 2012.
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