By RYAN TOLMICH
Daniel Sturridge’s injury woes are set to carry into the 2015-16 season.
The Liverpool striker underwent surgery on his injured hip this week and has been ruled out for at least four months. As a result, the forward isn’t expected to make his return until at least September, one month into the 2015-16 English Premier League campaign.
The oft-injured forward has seen his 2014-15 campaign derailed by injuries and has been limited to just eight league starts this season. When healthy, Sturridge has proven to be one of the Premier League’s more dynamic forwards, scoring 24 goals in the 2013-14 campaign.
The 2015-16 Premier League season starts on August 8, earlier than normal due to the following summer’s European Championships.
Here are some more news and notes to kick off your Friday morning:
RIVER TOP BOCA IN COPA LIBERTADORES FIRST LEG
After falling to a 2-0 defeat to their rivals in the league last week, River Plate made sure to exact some revenge in the Copa Libertadores on Thursday night.
Carlos Sanchez’s penalty kick finish with less than 10 minutes remaining was enough for River to top Boca Juniors, 1-0, in the opening leg of their Copa Libertadores clash.
Sanchez was awarded the penalty after Gonzalo Martinez was fouled in the box by Leandro Marin in the 81st minute. River’s victory did have its drawbacks, though, as forward Teo Gutierrez was sent off with two minutes remaining.
The game was played with no visiting fans allowed in the stands due to previous violent incidents.
In other Copa Libertadores action, Ecuador’s Emelec earned a 2-0 victory over Colombia’s Atletico Nacional while Argentina’s Racing Club picked up a 1-1 draw at Uruguay’s Wanderers.
PRINCE ALI, FIGO, VAN PRAAG TO MEET TO DISCUSS HOW TO OPPOSE BLATTER
With Sepp Blatter remaining a heavy favorite for another term as FIFA president, his three opponents plan to hold talks on how best to proceed.
Dutch FA boss Michael Van Praag, former Portugal star Luis Figo and FIFA executive committee member Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein will reportedly hold a meeting in Switzerland in the near future. The meeting could see two of the candidates drop out in order to back the best challenger to Blatter.
The 78-year-old Blatter has been in charge of FIFA since 1998 and remains strongly favored to be awarded a fifth term, which would extend his reign through 2019.
The election will be held on May 29 in Zurich at FIFA’s annual congress.
QUICK KICKS
Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba has returned to training and could play in the Champions League second leg against Real Madrid. (REPORT)
West Ham could receive a Europa League berth after England was awarded another fair play position in the competition. (REPORT)
Borrussia Dortmund director of sport Michael Zorc says Jurgen Klopp may some day return to the club. (REPORT)
Manchester United’s Michael Carrick will miss the rest of the season with a calf injury. (REPORT)
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What do you think of Sutrridge’s latest injury woes? How will River fare in the second leg? What do you expect from the upcoming FIFA election?
Share your thoughts below
Hey I was the guy who posted about going to the game! Still here in Argentina, and I must say the game was the experience of a lifetime. I went to the league match last Sunday, the game where Boca won 2-0.
The match itself was great, a bit choppy at times and it looked to be heading to a 0-0 tie before Boca scored one in ~82nd minute. For us in the crowd, it was absolute ecstasy.
But one of the most amazing parts is the singing/chanting. The chants are led by the supporters groups behind the goals, and it’s absolutely amazing how quickly the chants pick up from the supporters groups to the entire stadium. It really is like a breathing organism and it blows your mind. Watching the game in Boca’s stadium (La Bombonera) which is slightly smaller in attendance but more than makes up for it in the “cauldron-like” atmosphere was a true experience. I have a few awesome videos from the match, it was so amazing! Thanks for asking!
I recall reading an SBI poster went to the Superclásico last week – curious to hear an update on their experience.
i used to follow the Cola Lib quite a bit a couple years back. I’m probably get into it in the latter stages. There’s so much soccer to get into these days, and mls aint half bad. What is bad is saturday morning footie. Saturday morning is for sleeping in. I don’t care whose playing who in the Epl. CCL was much improved this year, but till i hear of france/england/spain/japan paying for tv rights to that tournament i’ll still feel that mls is being let down by not being in a reputable international tournament.
Copa Lib