Chelsea star Lampard out for three weeks

The thigh injury that forced Frank Lampard to withdraw from the England squad ahead of Saturday’s friendly with Brazil will sideline the Chelsea star for three weeks.

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Frank Lampard: Thigh muscle injury

 

• Frank Lampard misses Brazil friendly

Lampard suffered a tear to the thigh muscle of his left leg while training in Doha and flew home to London following a scan on the injury. Chelsea conducted their own tests and issued statement confirming the 31-year-old will be out of action for a number of weeks.

“The midfielder reported back at Cobham this morning having flown back from the Middle East,” the statement read. “The Chelsea medical department’s initial impression is that he may take approximately three weeks to recover.”

There had been fears that Lampard had suffered a re-occurrence of a problem which ruled him out for more than a month in 2007 and that he might be out of action until the new year.

Lampard’s shortened absence is still a serious blow to the Premier League leaders, who face tricky matches against Arsenal and Manchester City in December without their star midfielder.

Lampard and the rest of the England squad were reportedly forced to spend the long-haul flight to Doha on a charter plane designed for short-haul only. England’s players are used to having flat beds for long journeys and were allegedly shocked to find seats which hardly reclined.

The midfielder strained his thigh while sprinting during England’s first training session and Chelsea will claim his £151,000-a-week wages in compensation from the Football Association while he is sidelined.

Chelsea will also lose Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Salomon Kalou and John Obi Mikel when the Africa Cup of Nations kicks off in January.

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Del Piero’s South African dream

Juventus forward Alessandro Del Piero has told Italy boss Marcello Lippi he would love to be part of next year’s FIFA World Cup™ squad.

Del Piero has missed almost the entire season with various injuries and, though he is now nearing full fitness, is not part of the Italy squad which will face Holland and Sweden over the next five days.

Nevertheless, Del Piero still fancies a trip to South Africa next summer.

“Me, in South Africa? I have already been there, but I would like to go back there. Having been a part of the Italy squad at the beginning, I still feel like I’m part of it.”

Del Piero must hope that Lippi also considers him part of the squad as the coach said earlier this week it would be “difficult” for anyone from the outside to force their way in.

There have been repeated calls for Antonio Cassano to be handed another chance with the national team, while Francesco Totti and Alessandro Nesta – who both announced their international retirement after the Azzurri won the tournament in Germany three years ago – also have their champions.

Del Piero has not been a part of the Italy squad since last September’s qualifier against Georgia. Meanwhile, Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was back in training today with the current Azzurri squad after overcoming the illness which kept him in the team hotel yesterday.

Giuseppe Rossi also joined up with the squad today after playing for Villarreal in the Copa del Rey last night.

Another man in camp today was Daniele De Rossi, the Roma midfielder who fractured his cheekbone at the weekend in a challenge with Inter Milan’s Patrick Vieira.

De Rossi underwent surgery yesterday and is expected to be out of action for around three weeks, but today had lunch with his international team-mates.

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