Standard vow to do it for Defour

Attacking midfielder Igor De Camargo has pledged to lead R. Standard de Liège to the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds as a tribute to captain Steven Defour, whose group-stage dream has been ended by a broken foot.

'Terrible injury'
Defour has been ruled out for three months after fracturing a bone in his right foot during Saturday's 3-0 Eerste Klasse win against KV Mechelen, with team-mate De Camargo saying: "All the lads have been thinking about Defour, and the chance to honour him will give us extra motivation. This terrible injury has shattered his dream of playing in the Champions League. Now he will be out until December, so we hope to qualify for the next stage so Steven can make his entrance in 2010. That is our big motivation for the campaign."

Genk experience
De Camargo may be just 26, but he is a relative veteran in the dressing room of UEFA Champions League debutants Standard. With the Belgian titleholders kicking off their Group H bid at home to Arsenal FC on Wednesday, he hopes his previous experience of the competition with KRC Genk will benefit the team. "I had the fortune to play in the Champions League at Genk, so I have a role to play in the squad, sharing my experience with the other players," said Standard's vice-captain. "It is good to be the captain in a mental sense, today more than ever."

Pain barrier
Brazilian-born De Camargo's group-stage bow with Genk on 25 September 2002 ended in a 6-0 loss at Real Madrid CF, yet that has done nothing to reduce the naturalised Belgian's appetite for club football's top table. He will ignore a thigh injury suffered against Mechelen to face Arsenal, saying: "I will be battling to control the pain. But I would be playing even if I was on crutches."