Vieira and Owen occupy thoughts

With the next round of UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying games fast approaching on 2 and 6 June, many national-team coaches across the continent are re-assessing their options either before or after naming their squads.

France coach Raymond Domenech has confirmed captain Patrick Vieira will miss out on the home qualifiers against Ukraine and Georgia in Paris and Auxerre respectively. The FC Internazionale Milano midfielder damaged knee ligaments in the Italian Cup final on 17 May, having only just recovered from a hamstring problem. "He is definitely out," Domenech said. "We cannot include him. He needs rest so that he can return in the best possible condition." Vieira joins Thierry Henry and Willy Sagnol on the casualty list. France are third in Group B, but level on 12 points with top two Ukraine and Scotland.

While England do not name their squad for the 1 June home friendly with Brazil and trip to Group E rivals Estonia five days later until Saturday, manager Steve McClaren is preparing for a B match against Albania on Friday. Newcastle United FC forward Michael Owen is in line for his first international-level game since a knee injury forced him out of last summer's FIFA World Cup while club-mate Steven Taylor has been drafted in after the centre-half's promising progress at Under-21 level.

Estonia's preparations for the home double-header in Tallinn against Group E leaders Croatia and England have been hampered by injury. Andres Oper, who has scored eleven goals for Eredivisie outfit Roda JC this season, needs surgery on his ankle, and joins FC Flora Tallinn right-back Teet Allas on the sidelines. Coach Jelle Goes has not yet called up any replacements.

Right-back Paweł Golański has become the second defender to withdraw from the Poland squad for the away qualifiers in Azerbaijan and Armenia after suffering a thigh injury in Korona Kielce’s 5-3 win against Ekstraklasa leaders GKS Bełchatów. Golański will be out of action for about a month and is likely to be replaced by Wisła Kraków player Marcin Baszczyński. Arkadiusz Głowacki had earlier withdrawn from the squad with a hand injury. Poland are the pace-setters in Group A.

Austria will be without midfielder Markus Weissenberger for their Vienna friendlies against Scotland and Paraguay. The UEFA EURO 2008™ co-hosts have arranged games against Scotland on 30 May and face Paraguay three days later, but a persistent groin problem will keep the 32-year-old on the sidelines for those fixtures. "I'm afraid Weissenberger still can't train and so obviously he won't be fit in time," said Austria coach Josef Hickersberger. "As well as missing the two matches, Markus will not take part in the training camp in Lindabrunn either."

Influential centre-back Sergei Shtaniuk could miss Belarus's home-and-away qualifiers against Bulgaria with an ankle injury. Although he has yet to be ruled out, Shtaniuk is receiving intensive treatment in Minsk where the first match will be played before the trip to Sofia four days later.