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Winger Ribery struck down with knee injury

18/06/2008

France winger Franck Ribery has suffered a suspected knee ligament injury in his side's 2-0 defeat to Italy at Euro 2008.

The Bayern Munich star was carried off after only ten minutes of the match following a tussle with Italian defender Gianluca Zambrotta.

Ribery, 25, fell awkwardly and was clearly in a great deal of pain as he was substituted for Samir Nasri.

The injury appeared to unsettle the World Cup finalists and many pundits have suggested the injury led directly to France's elimination from the tournament, which was confirmed by the defeat.

France coach Raymond Domenech, who now faces an uncertain future following the early exit, could not confirm the extent of the injury after the match.

However, he refused to rule out a possible sprain or ligament problem, which could rule him out for a number of months.

"We think it's a twisted knee but we don't know for sure yet," Domenech told journalists at his post-match press conference.

"He's been to hospital but we've no more news."