Gera to miss crucial qualifiers

Unnecessary aggravation
The Hungarian international has aggravated an achilles tendon injury, which he sustained in a recent friendly against Russian side FC Torpedo Moskva. He had been expected to play against Újpesti TE at the weekend but failed to make even the substitutes' bench. "I started training too soon [after the injury] and was not patient enough," said Gera.

National service
As well as missing important league games, the 23-year-old is also likely to sit out Hungary's vital UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying ties against Poland and Sweden. Imre Gellei's team travel to Group 4 rivals Poland on 29 March before taking on Sweden in Budapest four days later.

Goal hero
Gera, who scored a hat-trick in Hungary's 3-0 qualifying win against San Marino in October, recently signed a new two-and-a-half year contract at Ferencváros. The Budapest club top the 1. Liga table on goal difference from MTK Hungária FC after Saturday's 1-0 home defeat of Újpest.