Schalke lose Larsen to knee blow

FC Schalke 04's Danish international Søren Larsen will miss a number of important matches for club and country after partially tearing cruciate ligaments in his left knee during Sunday's 2-0 Bundesliga defeat at Hertha BSC Berlin.

Winning goal
The 25-year-old forward requires rest rather than surgery to cure the problem and his rehabilitation is expected to last around six weeks. Larsen scored the only goal of Schalke's UEFA Cup first-round first leg against AS Nancy-Lorraine in Gelsenkirchen but is ruled out of the second in France on 28 September as well as Denmark's upcoming UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Liechtenstein.