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Leg injury ends Tona's Women's EURO dream

Italy defender Elisabetta Tona is reeling from a "dream that has vanished" after a leg injury sustained during training ruled her out of UEFA Women's EURO 2013 in Sweden.

Elisabetta Tona played in all but one of Italy's ten qualifying games
Elisabetta Tona played in all but one of Italy's ten qualifying games ©Sportsfile

Elisabetta Tona – a vital cog in Italy's well-oiled defence – has been ruled out of UEFA Women's EURO 2013 after tearing a muscle in her leg.

The 29-year-old, part of a backline that did not concede in ten qualifying matches, sustained the injury during the Azzurre's final training session before flying out to Sweden.

"We did a scan this morning and it showed that the muscle had torn, which is pretty serious and not something you can recover from in two weeks," said the ASD Torres centre-back. "I knew it was immediately serious because I couldn't walk and fell to the ground.

"At that moment, all I could feel was pain, but after that you realise you've done two years of [hard] work and then with just one training session it becomes a dream that has vanished.

"I'm going to stay here with my team-mates and I'll support them from the stands," Tona added as Italy prepare to face Group A rivals Finland in today's tournament curtain-raiser. "We are ready. Hopefully we can start with the right attitude because that's the most important thing."

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