Carvalho KO hits club and country

Chelsea FC defender Ricardo Carvalho has withdrawn from the Portugal squad with a back injury and is expected to be out of action for two months.

Worse than expected
Carvalho could face an eight-week lay-off after the injury sustained in Chelsea's Premier League draw against Everton FC on Sunday proved more serious than anticipated. In ruling him out of Portugal's plans for their final UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying ties against Armenia and Finland, national team doctor Henrique Jones said: "Ricardo suffered a back injury around his vertebrae and will be sidelined for about two months. We were expecting him to be fit for the Portugal games but further examinations have proved otherwise."

Key fixtures
The 29-year-old centre-back will also miss his club's remaining two UEFA Champions League group stage matches. Group B leaders Chelsea have to travel to Rosenborg BK on 28 November before welcoming Valencia CF to London on Matchday 6 two weeks later. Portugal, meanwhile, will attempt to complete the job of qualifying for next summer's EURO when they host both Armenia and Finland over the next eight days, seeking at least to maintain their second place in Group A. Valencia full-back Luis Miguel is another casualty for Portugal with a thigh problem.