STRIKER DAVID Villa will be out for at least five months and could miss Euro 2012 after breaking his left leg in Barcelona’s 4-0 Club World Cup semi-final victory over Al Sadd of Qatar yesterday in Japan.
The news is also a setback for the Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2012 Group C opponents Spain as they prepare to defend their European title in Poland and Ukraine next year.
“David has fractured his leg and will return to Barcelona for an operation as soon as possible,” Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said.
“We are all very sad for him – he’s a charming personality and it’s a massive blow for the team,” added Guardiola after the European champions set up a final against Brazil’s Santos.
Villa, Spain’s all-time top scorer with 50 goals in 81 appearances, fell awkwardly in the first half and immediately signalled to the bench before being rushed to a local hospital in Yokohama.
“He will be out for a long time,” said Guardiola. “I don’t know how long, but it takes a long time to return after a break like this.”
The Spanish champions later said in a statement they estimated Villa would be out for between four and five months.
Villa’s absence will narrow Guardiola’s options as his side pursue titles in the Club World Cup, La Liga, Champions League and King’s Cup.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque was also concerned about the 30-year-old. Villa was first-choice forward when Spain won the World Cup last year and his national team partners Fernando Torres and Fernando Llorente are struggling for form.
“It’s very bad news, very unlucky for him,” Del Bosque said. “Thinking ahead to the European Championship, it is obviously very bad news as well. There are still six months to go. Let’s see how he recovers. Some return quickly, others take a little longer. First, we need to listen to what the medics say.”
Meanwhile, Barcelona have swept the board in World Soccer magazine’s prestigious annual awards with Lionel Messi named world player of the year, Pep Guardiola manager of the year and the side that won the Spanish and Champions League last season named as team of the year.
Messi collected more than 60 per cent of the votes cast in the annual poll of the British magazine’s readers from more than 40 countries – a record haul since the awards began in 1982. It is the second time the 24-year-old Argentine has topped the poll after winning in 2009. Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Portugal was a distant second with 9.3 per cent of votes while last year’s winner, Xavi, was third with 7.6 per cent.
Guardiola topped the manager’s poll ahead of Oscar Tabarez who coached Uruguay to victory in the Copa America, with Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson third.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)