Injury heartache for Andersson
Friday, April 23, 2004
Article summary
Sweden striker Andreas Andersson has been ruled out of UEFA EURO 2004™ this summer.
Article body
Slow recovery
The 30-year-old has struggled to make a full recovery from the serious knee ligament injury he suffered last year. As a result, Sweden physiotherapist Anders Wallentin confirmed he will not be in contention for the final 23-man squad that will travel to Portugal.
'Serious damage'
"The focus for Andreas was to get back in time for the Allsvenskanliga kick-off in 2004 but it hasn’t worked out in the way we had hoped despite plenty of hard work," Wallentin said. "It is hard to say when he will be back. The damage is serious and can sometimes force players to retire."
Sweden regular
Andersson has been capped by Sweden – pooled in Group C in Portugal alongside Bulgaria, Denmark and Italy – on 42 occasions, scoring eight goals. He joined AIK from Newcastle United FC in 1999 following two largely unsuccessful campaigns with the English club and has also played for AC Milan.
