Spain midfielder Pep Guardiola is to miss the World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea this summer after being diagnosed with knee ligament damage. It is the second World Cup heartbreak for Guardiola after he missed France '98, also with a knee injury.
The former Barcelona captain injured his right knee on Sunday during his club Brescia's 5-0 defeat by Juventus. He hadn't featured in the Spanish squad for recent friendlies but Spanish manager Jose Antonio Camacho had hinted that the playmaker remained in the frame for a World Cup spot. Today's news has now ruled out that possibility entirely.
"He has suffered damage to his collateral ligament and will be out until the end of July," a spokesman for Brescia told Reuters news service.
Filed by Tom Grealis
