Top Stories

Mid-day Ticker: Ronaldo to miss Mexico friendly; Ox out for up to three weeks; and more

CristianoRonaldoPortugal2-Israel (Getty)

By RYAN TOLMICH

Fans heading to this weekend’s friendly between Portugal and Mexico to see Cristiano Ronaldo are going to be left highly disappointed.

The Portuguese Football Federation confirmed Thursday that Ronaldo, Pepe and Raul Meireles will all be out of action for this Saturday’s friendly at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

The Real Madrid forward has been placed on a specialized training regimen with the goal of getting over leg injuries heading into the upcoming World Cup. On Tuesday, the federation announced that Ronaldo was suffering from a left thigh injury, as well as patellar tendinitis in his left knee.

Meanwhile, Pepe and Meireles will miss out due to injuries to their right thigh and left leg, respectively.

After playing Mexico, Portugal faces Ireland on Tuesday night at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium. The Portuguese then head to Brazil for the World Cup, where they will face Germany, Ghana and the U.S. Men’s National Team in Group G.

Here are some more news items from Thursday afternoon:

ENGLAND’S OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN OUT UP TO THREE WEEKS

Following the lead of Mexico, Italy and the Netherlands, England appears to be the latest team with a pre-World Cup friendly injury scare.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain injured his right knee in England’s 2-2 draw with Ecuador on Wednesday, and doctors have ruled the Arsenal player out for a period of 10 days to three weeks with strained medial ligaments.

England manager Roy Hodgson is currently unsure of Oxlade-Chamberlain’s place on the roster for the tournament in Brazil. The team can name an injury replacement up until 24 hours prior to its first World Cup game, which takes place on June 14 against Italy.

MILAN ON THE VERGE OF SIGNING PSG DEFENDER ALEX

After spending time in Brazil, England, the Netherlands and France, Brazilian centerback Alex appears to be heading to yet another country: Italy.

Alex has reportedly undergone a medical with AC Milan and is set to join the Italian giants on a free transfer. He spent the past two-and-a-half seasons with Paris Saint-Germain.

“I’m very happy to be here, everything is wonderful,” Alex said to describe his new club. “I want to take the club back to the Champions League.”

RODRIGUEZ MOVING FROM CLUB AMERICA TO CRUZ AZUL

Francisco ‘Maza’ Rodriguez has been a winner everywhere he has gone in Mexico, and now the 32-year-old centerback is hoping to bring his winning ways to his new team, Cruz Azul.

The Mexican international joined Cruz Azul on a three-year deal in Wednesday’s Liga MX draft, adding the club to the list of teams he has played for in his career. Rodriguez has previously represented Club America, Chivas Guadalajara, PSV Eindhoven and VfB Stuttgart.

Rodriguez wasn’t the only mover in Liga MX, as Lucas Lobos moved from Tigres to Toluca, while Sinha went from Toluca to Queretaro.

Disappointed by Ronaldo’s absence? What should England do with Ox? How will Alex fare in Milan?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Ronaldo will not be at the World Cup. He has become “sad” again. Apparently he is heartbroken at having disappointed Brad Evans, who surpisingly is a regular in his online FIFA ’14 side.

    Reply
  2. I read other places that Ronaldo has “patellar tendinosis”. How is it different than tendinitis?

    “Tendinosis usually causes no redness or warmth of the surrounding soft tissues, although the area can be painful to touch. Tendinosis is a chronic problem, meaning it develops gradually and lasts a long time. When seen under a microscope, inflammatory cells are not present, although chronic damage and microscopic tears of the tendon may be seen.”

    So tendinosis sounds a bit more serious than just tendinitis.

    Reply

Leave a Comment