Holland coach Marco van Basten's preparations for Euro 2008 have been rocked by the withdrawal of Liverpool winger Ryan Babel.
The 21-year-old suffered torn ankle ligaments in training on Saturday and is now certain to miss the tournament in Austria and Switzerland, with the injury set to keep him sidelined for up to seven weeks.
The injury came little more than a week before Holland's tournament opener against Italy.
And as he prepared his team for Sunday's friendly against Wales at De Kuip - their final warm-up game - Van Basten admitted the injury was a blow.
"Really bad," he said. "Ryan is such a nice guy.
"He was on the other end of the field when he turned around. He told me that he heard something snap, and others heard it too.
"He went to a hospital and there it became clear he had torn a muscle. He needs five to seven weeks to recover."
Van Basten has not named a replacement for the 21-year-old although he is permitted to do so once Babel has been examined by a UEFA doctor.
Sevilla's on-loan Chelsea defender Khalid Boulahrouz appears to be at the head of the queue.
"I will now think, together with my staff, about what to do," said Van Basten. "I will select another player, but I'm not sure now who that will be.
"Boulahrouz...is a possibility."
Despite the injury blow, Holland boss Van Basten has delivered an ominous warning for John Toshack's Wales, demanding a flurry of goals.
That will be worrying for Welsh ears, because the last time they faced Holland they were thrashed 7-1 in Eindhoven in 1996, and Van Basten clearly wants a similar scoreline against a country they have beaten in all five previous meetings.
Van Basten was disappointed with Thursday's 1-1 home draw against Denmark, when he fielded a side close to the one expected to face Italy on June 9.
"We must be more clinical and take our chances. This team has matured over the last two years and everywhere the expectation is so much higher, not surprisingly," he said.
"But we cannot allow ourselves to let teams off the hook when we are making chances and on top."
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