THEFinally, the injury suffered by Rodrigo Zalazar, on the 9th of October, in the ‘headline’ match of the eighth round of the I League (which culminated in a 1-3 victory over Sporting de Braga, in Pedreira) is more complex than initially expected, according to information provided this Monday by the newspaper A Bola.
The Uruguayan international continues without training under the orders of Rui Borges, at the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy, in Alcochete, and is, for now, a certain absence for the match on the third round of the Champions League league phase, against LASK Linkz, which has the kick-off scheduled for 8pm (Mainland Portugal time) on Wednesday, at the José Alvalade Stadium.
However, the bad news doesn’t stop there, as, at the moment, everything points to him also being left out of the squad for the receptions against Académico de Viseu (at 8:30 pm on Sunday, for the ninth round of the national championship) and MarÃtimo (at 8:15 pm on the following Tuesday, for the quarter-finals of the League Cup).
This means that the summer reinforcement (recruited from Sporting de Braga in exchange for a fee of around 30 million euros) should only receive the ‘green light’ to return to the pitch on October 30th, the day on which the trip to the Municipal Stadium of Rio Maior is scheduled, where the Portuguese runners-up in title will face Casa Pia.
‘Brilharete’ in Pedreira was expensive
Rodrigo Zalazar, remember, experienced a ‘frenetic’ break for international commitments, so much so that he participated (and scored) in ‘his’ Uruguay’s rout of India, 1-6, at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium, in Calcutta, just over 72 hours before the much-awaited Sporting de Braga-Sporting match.
Given this scenario, Rui Borges had no alternative but to manage the 27-year-old player’s physical condition, leaving him on the bench and only introducing him in the 58th minute, replacing Silas Andersen, at a time when the lions were at a disadvantage, in the duel played at Pedreira, 1-3.
Well, the creative didn’t do anything less. In the 71st minute, following an individual initiative, he ‘forced’ an own goal from Bernardo Fontes, and, in the 81st minute, he himself scored the goal that sealed, once and for all, the final result. Moments later, he developed muscle complaints in his left thigh, which is why he had to receive medical assistance and give way to João Simões.
Zalazar is not the only ‘headache’
In addition to Rodrigo Zalazar’s name, those of Zeno Debast and Nuno Santos continue to appear in Sporting’s clinical report, so they are practically certain to be absent for the reception to LASK Linz, with muscle problems that already ruled them out, last Tuesday, from the victory achieved over Lens, at Stade Bollaert-Delelis, by 0-2, also counting for the league phase of the Champions League.
