Bale pulls hamstring in training. Out of England game.

[HongKongBluey]

From the Sun:

ENGLAND were handed a massive boost last night when Wales dangerman Gareth Bale was ruled out of Saturday's Euro 2012 crunch.
The Tottenham star has been forced to withdraw from the qualifier in Cardiff because of a hamstring injury.

We can reveal he will return to London this morning where he will be assessed by his club.

A Wales insider said: "It's a bitter blow for Gareth because he was so keen to play but there is no chance that he'll be fit in time."

The winger was recently hailed as 'the best footballer in the Premier League' on current form by England boss Fabio Capello.

But he had only just returned to action for Spurs after six weeks out with a back injury and it is believed his hamstring problem could be related to that.

Bale, 21, pulled up lame in training yesterday and was told he has no chance of being able to face the Three Lions at the Millennium Stadium.

But it is hoped he will be fine for his club's crunch Champions League quarter-final with Real Madrid on April 5.

Bale also suffered a knock on his thigh in training with Spurs last week but recovered in time to face West Ham.

He has emerged as a leading contender to be named Player of the Year for his performances but there are concerns his rise to stardom has come at a price with the season taking its toll on his body.

England striker Peter Crouch knows only too well the threat Bale poses - as a team-mate at Tottenham.

Crouch said: "Sometimes he's just unplayable. What he did to Inter this season showed people what he is capable of."

If this keeps him sidelined for 3-4 weeks its could have quite an effect of Tottenham's season...

 

[weejh]

Shame really, would have loved to see him run rings around Johnson, just so our Micah would have been in the next squad, it was a joke he wasn't in to start with. Possibly great news for city tho, he has been immense for them

 

[Unknown_Genius]

Shame, a Wales victory would be quite nice.

 

[fbloke]

I was very surprised to see him recover from his back injury so quickly as a friend had said he was supposed to have needed an op' to sort it properly.

There was some talk abut it being very serious at the time.

Perhaps they have tried to get away with it for the rest of the season??

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

I was quaking my boots at facing the worlds greatest playerTM. Good player no doubt and I hope he's out for a while for our sakes but he wasn't worth a wank against West Ham the other day

 

[fbloke]

I was quaking my boots at facing the worlds greatest playerTM. Good player no doubt and I hope he's out for a while for our sakes but he wasn't worth a wank against West Ham the other day

Carrying a back injury that was pulling on his hamstring?

 

[City Raider]

bad back that leads to dodgy hammy's - bad combination for the lad could lead to major long term probs - seems like that contract was signed just in time ;)

 

[fbloke]

bad back that leads to dodgy hammy's - bad combination for the lad could lead to major long term probs - seems like that contract was signed just in time ;)

There was talk of an operation being needed and IF that didn't solve it he would never fully recover.

I hope he got payment protection with his mortgage ;-)

 

[marcspurs]

According to the medical staff at Spurs, he felt some tightness in his hamstring after the game on Saturday v Wet Spam but agreed to report for International duty....

Contrary to the lazy journo's reporting, he has not actually trained at all this week and the decision was made to withdraw him from the game today.....

Spurs have allowed him to stay with the Welsh squad and 2 of the Spurs medical staff saw him this morning and assessed the injury and they were happy to let the Welsh medical officials treat him until he returns to Spurs at the week-end....

Spurs officials expect him to be available for the PL game at Wigan next week-end.....

That'll be a little like the C Ronaldo injury that will keep him out of Portugal's games this week and next, but won't stop him from playing against Spurs in the CL.....

 

[Mancio]

i hope bale will be able to play vs real madrid , first and second leg. and that he injury himself in the second leg last minute