By DAN KARELL
Chelsea fans learned on Tuesday that Fernando Torres is sidelined with a thigh injury that will keep him out for the next couple of weeks.
With three goals in his last three games, it looked as though Torres was finally rediscovering the form that made him arguably the world’s best striker back in his days with Liverpool and Atletico Madrid. However, this injury slows down any of that progress.
“Fernando has a muscular injury,” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said to the Guardian at a press conference. “We don’t know the dimension but we await the scans tomorrow, but tomorrow out and out for the weekend too. After that comes an international break. Let’s see if he can recover after that.”
Chelsea next face Schalke 04 in UEFA Champions League play and West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Saturday. Either Samuel Eto’o or Demba Ba are likely to start in place of Torres.
Here are some more stories to start your Tuesday:
TOTTI’S ROMA RETURN PUSHED BACK
A week ago, AS Roma were hoping that star forward Francesco Totti would return by the end of this month. On Tuesday, according to reports in the Italian media, those hopes were a bit premature.
Totti’s return to the field after suffering a thigh injury last month has been pushed into December. The club is now looking at December 8 against Fiorentina or December 16 against AC Milan as the soonest that the former Italian international can return.
The 37-year-old suffered his thigh injury in the first half of Roma’s game against Napoli on October 18. The club has continued their unbeaten start to the Serie A season with no losses through 11 games played, though they did draw for the first time last Sunday against Torino.
FIFA ALLOCATES HIGHEST NUMBER OF TICKETS EVER IN FIRST PHASE OF WORLD CUP SALES
Nearly 900,000 tickets were allocated by FIFA in the first phase of World Cup ticket sales, a new record.
A total of 889,305 tickets were sent to fans in 188 different countries around the world, with Brazil leading the pack with 625,276 tickets. Behind Brazil was the United States (66,646), England (22,257), Germany (18,019), and Australia (15,401).
FIFA announced that they received 6.2 million applications for tickets. The second phase of World Cup ticket sales begins on November 11 and ends on November 28.
QUICK KICKS
Fulham defender Sascha Riether has been charged by the FA for violent conduct following a stamp on Manchester United midfielder Adnan Januzaj. (REPORT)
AS Roma are keeping an eye on Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye as a potential winter signing. (REPORT)
Kevin-Prince Boateng has earned a recall to the Ghanian National Team ahead of their second-leg match against Egypt on November 19. (REPORT)
The FA of Ireland have confirmed the appointments of Martin O’Neill as manager and Roy Keane as assistant manager. (REPORT)
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What do you think of these reports? Do you see Torres’ injury hurting Chelsea? Do you see Totti returning before Christmas? Impressed with the ticket allocated numbers?
Share your thoughts below.