Fabregas may miss World Cup with leg fracture

Posted Thursday, April 01, 2010 by YAHOO Sport

LONDON (AP)—Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas may struggle to make Spain’s World Cup after he was ruled out for the remainder of the Premier League season on Thursday with a cracked right fibula.

Arsenal said the 22-year-old midfielder is out for at least six weeks with the injury he sustained in the closing stages of Wednesday’s 2-2 Champions League quarterfinal, first leg draw against Barcelona.

Arsenal has six more Premier League matches before the English season finishes on May 9, two days before the deadline for national teams to register their provisional 30-man World Cup squads.

The squads must be trimmed to a final 23 by June 1 and, with Fabregas only an infrequent starter, coach Vicente Del Bosque may decide to leave out a player who will have been out of action for 11 weeks by the time Spain plays its World Cup opener.

European champion Spain kicks off against Switzerland on June 16 in Durban.

“Everyone at the Club wishes Cesc a full and speedy recovery,” Arsenal said in a statement.

The loss of Fabregas will be keenly felt by the north London club. He won and converted the penalty which gave Arsenal its second goal against Barcelona and is hugely influential to the side as a creative midfielder.

His absence will not only be a major blow for the quarterfinal second leg in Spain but also Arsenal’s hopes of overtaking Manchester United and Chelsea at the top of the Premier League in the closing weeks of the domestic season.