Ajax count the casualties
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Article summary
Steven Pienaar and Rafael van der Vaart suffered knee ligament injuries when AFC Ajax played Feyenoord.
Article body
Ligament trouble
Pienaar damaged the medial ligament in his left knee during the 1-1 draw in Amsterdam. The 22-year-old will be sidelined for two to four weeks, ruling him out of the Group C trip to Juventus FC on 23 November and making him doubtful for the home match against FC Bayern München on 8 December.
Question mark
Ajax captain Rafael van der Vaart was injured in the same game, limping off with a medial ligament problem in his right knee. The 21-year-old forward has withdrawn from the Netherlands squad to face Andorra on Wednesday and there is a question mark against his availability for the matches against De Graafschap on Saturday, and possibly Bayern three days later.
Head wound
A third casualty of the Feyenoord fixture was defender Nigel de Jong. The 19-year-old required eight stitches in a head wound above his right eye following a clash of heads. If his recovery goes to plan, he should be fit to play against De Graafschap.
