Sinisa Mihajlovic to Start for Inter on Wednesday?

By: Martha | November 5th, 2007

Evil, evil Nedved. Just as they’re starting to get defenders back to health and back from suspension, Inter’s midfield is going all to hell. Already without Luis Jimenez (who recently suffered a mysterious injury in training), Patrick Vieira (Broken. Again.) and Dejan Stankovic (damaged ankle joint, not due back until December), they’ve now lost Luis Figo, possibly until January. Man. Given how fond of Roberto Mancini has become of playing the utterly lost Nico Burdisso in the midfield, he may need to start looking next to him for more useful options. Is there an assistant coach loophole connected to the Champions League roster? Maybe?

The Portuguese went down under a characteristically cynical challenge from Pavel Nedved — one for which he was carded — in the second half yesterday, and though Figo did play on after getting a dose of magic spray, he couldn’t continue and went off a few minutes later. Tests have determined that he’s got a fractured fibula, and hes’ll undergo surgery tomorrow to do whatever you do to broken legs. (Tape? Metal plates? Fairy dust?) There’s no word from Inter on how long the old man will be out, but the media are saying it’s could be two months, which is dire for both Figo and Inter, obviously, and actually makes me hate Nedved more, something I wouldn’t have thought possible. (And, no, claiming innocence and saying he’s terribly sorry isn’t going to help.)

In other major injury news, Giuseppe Rossi scored for Villarreal yesterday, as usual, then suffered damage to his knee ligaments that will keep him out for at least six weeks. God, how brutal for the kid — he and his team are flying, and just as he’s getting well-deserved international attention for the first time, he’s got to sit for a month and a half.

Some Related Serie A Posts:

Category: Inter, Rumors & News, Serie A

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Zabel

Marco, I think there were no way Nedved could have even touched the ball without tripping Figo. Nedved was on the left side of Figo while the ball was on the opposite side. Include that Nedved challenged from behind while Figo was running, it could be possible he did not have intention of brreaking Figo's leg, but it sure was a very dangerous challenge.
MAD

Yes, Paaahhhvel (Suaaahhhve)'s challenge was completely non-cynical. The fact that:

1. Figo had been moving the ball forward all day long and MUST BE STOPPED BY ANY AND ALL MEANS

2. Paaahhhvel (Suaaahhhve) had challenged Figo BEHIND BOTH LEGS (you know, the place where most people go when they want to injure someone) instead in the front, i.e. where the ball was...

does not mean that this was a cynical challenge AT ALL... errr
Elisa

I want to play my violin now for Inter, poor babies. Villarreal really needs Rossi. They are on such a good streak right now. What a shame!
Linda

Poor Rossi. But six weeks isn't bad for knee ligament injuries, and at least Villarreal have cover.

The Figo news is pretty bad, though. The bright side: bone injuries don't have as much as risk of relapses as muscle ones and recovery is more likely to be complete.
patcook

Nedved's not so bad. his yellow in the Semi of the CL in 2003 when Juve already had the win tied up virtually handed the trophy to Milan by forcing him to miss the final
Martha

I've always thought Nedved was dirty, which is actually sort of awesome giving his propensity for dramatic dives -- I don't think he hurt him on purpose, but he was getting beating and knew it and needed to bring him down. I think I'd feel better about it if he would just hush and not protest his innocence.
Marco

My my Martha, you're starting to sound like Massimo 'Sour Grapes' Moratti. If you watch the replay of Figo's injury, it's fairly obvious (to me at least) that Nedved's going for the ball. You can tell because Figo has just started to put his foot on the ball to make a 180º, and that's what Nedved anticipated by putting his foot there, only he caught Figo's leg at the same time.

Granted, it might have been a reckless challenge, but it wasn't intentional. So no need to hate Nedved more than the usual.