World Cup 2010 - Robben sweats on scan

Sat, 05 Jun 15:45:00 2010

Bayern Munich forward Arjen Robben faces an anxious wait to discover if he will be fit for the World Cup finals after suffering a hamstring injury during the Netherlands' 6-1 friendly win over Hungary.

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He will not travel to South Africa with the rest of the party on Saturday but has not been ruled out for the World Cup finals which start on Friday.

Robben replaced Dirk Kuyt at half-time and scored twice before falling awkwardly on the turf in the final five minutes.

The former Chelsea player attempted a clever backheel pass before collapsing with no Hungarian players near him. He hobbled off before heading immediately to the dressing room.

Several Dutch players, including Robin van Persie and Mark van Bommel, fellow scorers in the rout of the Hungarians at the Amsterdam ArenA, shared Robben's concerned expression.

Robben will undergo a scan on Sunday to discover the extent of the injury.

"I thought to myself, 'This can't be true.' He made an unnatural movement and injured his hamstring," said Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk.

"You sometimes see that people with injuries like this are fit again in a few weeks. I'm hoping for that.

"We now have to wait. I can replace Robben until 24 hours before our opening match but as long as there is hope he recovers in time he will stay in the squad."

Until Robben's injury scare, prospects ahead of the finals only looked bright for the Dutch who had surprisingly conceded a sixth minute lead to the Hungarians through Balazs Dzsudzsak.

Good work from Kuyt earned Robin van Persie a 21st minute equaliser and Netherlands really hit their stride after the break with second-half sub Robben and Wesley Sneijder, Mark van Bommel and Eljero Elia all on target.

Holland open their World Cup qualifying campaign with a match against Denmark on June 14. Cameroon and Japan are their other opponents in Group E.

Eurosport

Comment 28 - 47 of 47

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  1. Aurelius... you're a presumptuous clown about who­ posts here.... and what if Rooney got hurt for England?­ Would Heskey and Crouch get the job done?

    From Ray, on Mon 7 Jun 12:20

  2. young people talking nonsense.

    This is nothing out of­ the ordinary. This has happened before, and it's­ normal. That's the reason football has 23 players­ but only 11 can play. If your team is a one man team,­ than you have other problems to worry about than­ injuries.

    Get over it. The world cup will go on with­ or without who you call star players. New stars rise up­ when old stars fall down.

    From Aurelius, on Mon 7 Jun 7:38

  3. I was gonna put money on Holland to win,not so sure now­ -Robben is their best player by far and the Ivory coast­ are screwed now!

    From cake, on Sun 6 Jun 22:41

  4. They should save Robben wining by 6-1 they should put­ him sit,i think they should save all the player in the­ preparation games we see a lots of player go down and­ the World cup not even started yet,i hate to see all­ the great player can't make it to the world cup.

    From Juan sabaldo, on Sun 6 Jun 20:54

  5. Re the injury situation. Dunno if any of you have­ noticed, but football is a lot faster and more athletic­ than it used to be. Here's some basic physics:­ F=MA. That's the reason why there are more­ injuries. Footballers haven't become weaker -­ it's just that part of the body that can't be­ built up are having to handle more strain, and the­ impacts are greater. Notice all the bone and ligament­ damage. Same is true for rugby. Interestingly­ it's the star players, who put more in, who seem to­ be suffering the most.

    From puskascat, on Sun 6 Jun 15:34

  6. At this rate there will be more star players at Soccer­ Aid than the World Cup. If this continues it will be a­ disaster. Brazil never ger injuried so what chance does­ anyone now have?

    From Tom, on Sun 6 Jun 15:22

  7. PLS THIS FRENDLY MATCHES SHOULD STOP COS ALL THIS KEY­ PLAYERS WITHOUT THEM THE WORLDCUP WILL NOT BE­ CHALLENGING.

    From philink4, on Sun 6 Jun 13:46

  8. Halfabrain.... yeah, but you've got to work your­ odds especially considering how intense the world cup­ itself is. I'd rather have Robben etc. knocking a­ little bit of rust off in the first game than not have­ him for any of them. And it's not even that much­ rust- these guys know how to play football, they're­ not going to forget in a few weeks and as long as they­ keep it fairly sharp in training then that'll be­ enough. I've played a few sports at a high level so­ I know what you mean, but there's also a lot to be­ said for being fresh, relaxed, and hungry to play. A­ little break can do wonders. I don't remember this­ many friendlies in past world cups for some reason- is­ that right or does it just seem like a lot?

    From Ray, on Sun 6 Jun 13:22

  9. something is wrong.. no more friendlies 6 weeks to­ world cup.
    robben, ballack, drogba, ferdinand, mikel,­ essien.................... be careful! just..

    From eric a, on Sun 6 Jun 13:12

  10. Woahhh.. these friendlies are turning out to be­ curses.. right before the world cup lots of players are­ getting injured.. WHATS GOING ON HERE?????

    From Sean V, on Sun 6 Jun 12:08

  11. To everyone who is saying that the Netherlands (and­ other countries) should have gone easy on their top­ players... well they did. In the entire preperation­ period Robben didn't play a minute, trained­ seperate for most of the time. But to be in top form­ you have to have some match fitness, so he had to play­ a little bit, and he played 45 minutes... and still he­ got injured, some things you just can't prevent no­ matter how careful you are...

    From Dries, on Sun 6 Jun 12:02

  12. I agree with Ray. Too many friendlies in such a short­ time. They're already tired from their domestic­ seasons! I am going for Holland this World Cup,­ although I'm Croatian, and am crushed by the news.­ Things don't look very good for Holland without­ their best player. Also many other stars are out this­ summer including Drogba, Ferdinand etc..
    I understand­ the need to play friendlies for when the manager is­ trying to narrow down his squad, but when he already­ has his final 23, whats the point?!

    From uptheguners, on Sun 6 Jun 11:18

  13. For crying out loud i wish these teams would go easy on­ their best players. I hope Robben recovers and plays in­ the world cup.

    From stevo, on Sun 6 Jun 11:09

  14. You have to wonder about the value of all these­ friendlies.... these guys are dropping like flies

    From Ray, on Sun 6 Jun 10:51

  15. I MUST ASK - IM CURIOUS:
    WHY WORK ALL THE MOST­ IMPORTANT PLAYERS SO HARD WITH LESS THAN A WEEK UNTILL­ WC?
    DONT BLAME THE PITCH OR DRUGS OR­ WAT-NOT.......FRICKIN GIVE 'EM A BREAK, OR THEY ARE­ GONNA GET INGURED....THEN THE MANAGERS HAVE A REAL­ PROBLEM.
    ENGLAND FOR WC (CROSS YOUR FINGERS LOL) GILLS­ 4EVER

    From Gillingham, on Sun 6 Jun 10:34

  16. This is a shame is suppose but the way he did it was­ pretty funny, being self inflicted and all.

    From asfinktasezwot, on Sun 6 Jun 10:32
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Dirty little scum , some call it karma LMFAO

    From Glenn T, on Sun 6 Jun 10:10

  18. P.Evra is next hahahaha

    From Man UTD are gays, on Sun 6 Jun 10:00

  19. Michael; you talk @#$%. I am glad Ferdinand is out, now­ he will be fit in time for the start ofthe Premiership­ which United's other players involved in the World­ Cup won't be! There is no chance of United signing­ Cahill of Bolton, they have already signed a centre­ half from Fulham, last January. The transfer window is­ not open until July so there will be lots of rubbish­ written by then! Cymru am Byth

    From Geoffl, on Sun 6 Jun 8:50

  20. brilliant reply eliot. good to see that the english­ sense of humour is still alive and well

    From andy, on Sun 6 Jun 8:49
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