Zé Roberto set for ankle surgery
Thursday, November 26, 2009
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Hamburger SV's Brazilian midfielder Zé Roberto will miss the rest of the group stage and will not return until the new year after the decision was made for him to undergo surgery on his right ankle.
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Hamburger SV midfielder Zé Roberto will miss the rest of the UEFA Europa League group stage after the decision was made for him to undergo surgery on his right ankle.
Operation
The 35-year-old Brazilian partially tore ligaments in a 2-2 draw at Hannover 96 a fortnight ago. Having initially hoped to make a quick return following light treatment, a further examination revealed that the ankle did not have the required stability and Zé Roberto is now to have an operation in Zurich. Signed from FC Bayern München in the summer, Zé Roberto is ruled out of Hamburg's remaining four Bundesliga matches before the winter break, plus the UEFA Europa League Group C games against SK Rapid Wien on Wednesday and Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC on 17 December.
Injury list
Aiming to reach the final at their own Hamburg Arena, HSV are two points ahead of Rapid in second place in the group. However, they are not only without Zé Roberto but also José Paolo Guerrero, Mladen Petrić, Romeo Castelen, Collin Benjamin, Alex Silva and Bastian Reinhardt.
