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Nani to miss World Cup

You can now add Portuguese winger Nani to the list of World Cup wounded.

The Manchester United midfielder will miss the World Cup after suffering a shoulder injury in training last Friday.

Portugal will replace Nani with Benfica midfielder Ruben Amorim.

Portugal begins World Cup play on June 15th against Ivory Coast, which is still uncertain about the availability of injured star Didier Drogba.

What do you think of this development? Think Portugal should still advance out of its tough group? Wondering if Brazil is casting spells on its group opponents now that Portugal and Ivory Coast have had major injuries and North Korea underwent the third goalkeeper/striker fiasco?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Dempsey had injured knee and thigh, feilhaber andkle and beasley i think it was his knee also. i assume dolo is churundalo and it was his shoulder i believe

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  2. Exactly.

    Oh, how I’m going to cry when he can’t do his celebration (not so much).

    Any chance he injured his shoulder from performing his gymnastics/backflip?

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  3. Who else on Portugal scares you now, other than Ronaldo? There are other good players, but Nani and Ronaldo were the two sharp, incisive players that create for others. Now it’s just Ronaldo, and he didn’t do much during qualifying.

    They were poised to take advantage of the Drogba injury just a few days ago, and now things have changed. A loss in that one (I know, not at all a given) would end their chances early.

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  4. It will hurt them a bit,Amorim has nowhere near the individual skill of Nani, But Ruben is more of a team player, something i think they have been lacking.

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  5. the naturalized brazilian Liedson will score goals for them. he is quite prolific. Bruno Alves, for me, is one of the worlds tippy top centerbacks.

    I dont see great things for them, but they will get out of the group.

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  6. Wow. Name calling already. Must be pretty easy from the security of your parent’s basement.

    While I agree the US defense is in shambles, that doesn’t mean the team should be making it any more difficult on them by putting Beasley on the field. The guy is a catastrophe in a soccer jersey. Hell, just field 10 men and leave Beasley on the bench, that would be better than allowing him to be on the field.

    I know what I saw in SA last summer and I don’t believe he’s improved since then. Especially since he was benched for most of the Ranger’s games and begged not to be let go from the team which was pretty pathetic.

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  7. Well, I dislike Portugal with a passion so I hope you are right. But I don’t think IC has the chops to compete being this is their 2nd world cup and 2nd group of death.

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  8. It’s a combination of Ivory Coast being really good and Portugal being really bad right now. Queiroz is a terrible coach, and hasn’t done anything of note since the early 90s. He’s a better assistant coach.

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  9. Actually Lando, the defense is the most likely reason this team will get sent home, if and when that is in the competition. Namely Bornstein if he sees the field.

    I don’t know you or haven’t noticed your posts before, but you seem typical of the ignorant US fan.

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  10. A poor man’s Ronaldo? Nani was the most in form Portugal player at the moment. During the final few months of the season, Nani tore it up at Man Utd and scored a beautiful goal recently in Portugal’s win against Cameroon. Quaresma, thats a poor mans Ronaldo. Nani is just Nani.

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  11. Failed? Gooch’s knee, Davies entire body(the guy who scored in Azteca), Boca’s sports hernia area, Demerritt’s eyes, Feilhaber, Beasley’s body, Jozy’s ankle, Holden’s leg, Dolo’s whatever-it-was , Edu’s knee, Clark’s hammy, Dempsey’s what-was-it and Spector’s form (not to mention Chingy’s injury bug)all could disagree. All these guys picked up these conditions after the voodoo incident.

    Just sayin…

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  12. I agree Josh D,

    All other leagues seem to have a break but during that winter period for the EPL they do like 3 games in a week.

    It’s too bad the big teams can’t use their bench a bit (which for Chelsea could be a 2nd EPL squad) without fear of losing the title.

    Ich liebe die Bundesliga, and look forward to the break so you don’t get worn out as a fan watching.

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  13. Betinho,

    Beasley blows.

    I’ll predict right now that he will be the reason that the US gets sent home. The team was barely able to slip by the last time he played in a major tournament due to his poor performance. If he gets any field time in this tournament, I fear that they won’t be able to slip by again.

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  14. i think theres aquite a few portugese players that are based in portugal but the ones in the bigger leauges had weird seasons. Like nani didnt play all that consistently for united. Pepe wasnt playing for Madrid at all. Deco was irregular at chealsea and the only one with lenthly playing timne this season is ronaldo who (when isnt getting mad at vanity fair) played some pretty good football this season ( and no i dont like him, but i respect his game). truth to tell i agree that they are in trouble unless the people coming from the portugese leauge are in great form. I dont have access to that leauges games so i jhave no idea really

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  15. i’m sure they aren’t using the mexican witch doctor

    i hear after their failed attempt against USA he lost his practice and had his medical license revoked

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  16. I lived in New Orleans for awhile – I’d go up to the Riverbend to Cooter Brown’s – 300+ beers, oysters and loads of TVs. It’s where I watched EPL when college football was often king. Just take the streetcar up St. Charles until it turns onto Carrollton.

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  17. “Wondering if Brazil is casting spells on its group opponents”

    You can be assured the shamen and voodoo dolls of the world are very busy these days. Maybe Brazil’s are just better at their trade.

    BTW and totally of topic…today is a great day. I finally got my Messi sticker for my WC 2014 sticker book!

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  18. It’s kind of a shame because Nani was really hitting his stride toward the end of the season. I almost always preferred watching Valencia, but he Nani really got it going late in the season. Huge loss for Portugal.

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  19. Lando, not a surprising comment from the guy who turned your buddy over to the bad guys. I’m guessing later in this movie (WC 2010) you will flip flop your opinion again.

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  20. It’s not just because of the EPL, although I do agree they run their players ragged. It’s also because the bigger stars have a ton of other commitments beyond soccer – appearances, award ceremonies, commercial shoots, photo shoots, advertising meetings, etc.

    In most cases, these players fly across the country to fulfill an obligation on their one day off and then fly back the same day.

    It adds to the stress and strain on the player

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  21. WHAT IS GOING ONNNNN? at least US is untouched… what if all of these stars going down equals the US winning the world cup

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  22. And if you notice, 90% of those injured come from the EPL. Compared to the other big leagues, the EPL doesn’t have a winter break of significant time (if anything, it gets busier) which means less risk and a higher chance for injury.

    I hope the FA re-evaluates their stance on this…

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  23. Anyone know any good soccer bars in NOLA? I will be in the French Quarter this weekend for the first time and need a good spot to watch the Yanks.

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  24. Always a bummer when good players get hurt. Hope he’s back in form in time for for Man Utd.

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  25. I think it hurts Portugal, not devestating but they are kind of like the USA in that any loss right now is not good. I try to keep track of them because my in-laws are off the boat portuguese-americans. They don’t look for good for this World Cup at all. They haven’t really been tested since Euro 2008, and Ronaldo’s magic bag seems smaller than once before. Is there anyone who (honestly) follows portugal a good amount and could comment on their form/chances. I try to talk to my in-laws but they are such homers you can’t really tell them Portugal has problems.

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  26. Another one bites the dust… sad really since these players are run so ragged over the course of a year.

    Some for even 3 years – think Torres of Spain who can never stay healthy. Mark my words, wherever he plays next year, he won’t be playing much because of constant injury since he never gets a break.

    EPL – Euros
    EPL – Confederations Cup
    EPL – World Cup

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