No Eduardo at Euro 2008

February 25th, 2008 | by: Daryl |

I was looking forward to seeing Croatia in action at Euro 2008. After Slaven Bilic’s men manhandled England so expertly – twice – in qualification they looked a good bet to go deep this summer. But a lot of Croatia’s game revolved around star striker Eduardo, the expert finisher who so far has 13 goals in 22 appearances. Better than one in two.

Unfortunately, the Arsenal striker definitely won’t be taking part in Euro 2008 after Birmingham City’s Martin Taylor went in with an insane studs up tackle that literally snapped Eduardo’s lower leg. The incident was so bad that it’s not in anyone’s interest for us to post any video or images here. If you really want to see it then go find it somewhere else. Otherwise just trust me that it was bad.

The semi-good news is that Eduardo will “only” be out for nine months or so, according to an official Arsenal statement:

All being well Eduardo will have his leg in plaster and be using crutches for the next six to eight weeks. After that partial weight-bearing exercises will be scheduled into a slow rehabilitation process. It is hoped Eduardo will be running again in six months and making a full recovery after nine months.

So we’ll miss Eduardo at Euro 2008 (and I’m sure Croatia will too) but wish him all the best and look forward to seeing him in action again next season.

Tags: Euro 2008

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Comments

By Footy Boy | February 25th, 2008 at 3:42 pm

I think it is much more than semi-good news that Eduardo will only be out for nine months. Yes, it’s a long time, but judging by the state of it it’s lucky he will play again at all.

An awful injury and a terrible tackle, though I’m sure it wasn’t intentional. Taylor isn’t exactly the best defender, it was probably more clumsy than anything.

Yeah Croatia will miss him and it’s a massive blow for Slaven Bilic, but they have plenty more top players. Luka Modric was the one I personally was most impressed with. For their strike partnership now, they have Petric and Olic – both of whom are doing well in the Budesliga at the moment. They also have Bosko Balaban, but I don’t think he is anywhere near as prolific as either Olic or Petric, or even Eduardo for that matter.

By Aslan | February 25th, 2008 at 4:16 pm

Eduardo will be out for only 6 months. To be honest Croatia have more than capable replacements for de silva and should be ok. They won’t miss him as much as france will miss clichy as he’ll be dropped for his dismal performance. Check this article on why eduardo won’t be missed. http://blog.ukfootballfinder.co.uk/?p=94

Posted from United Kingdom

By tomasz | February 25th, 2008 at 4:43 pm

I agree, Croatia has such depth in the squad (Petric, Modric, Balaban, Olic, Krancjar) that it is far too early to write them off. They have sufficient talent to be the dark horse of the tournament. In my opinion, it is the psychological preparation that they often lack (as it is very often with the teams from the Balkans, look at Serbia’s potential juxtaposed with their recent results). Hopefully, Eduardo will return in Henka Larsson’s fashion.

Posted from Poland

By MC | February 25th, 2008 at 6:48 pm

Get well soon Dudu and return to Croatia we miss you! Their is no room for stupid and reckless butchers like these in beautiful game liek football.

Posted from United States

By Brad | February 26th, 2008 at 1:36 pm

This is a big blow for Arsenal as well. With Robin Van Persie still out who is going to play up front with Adebayor? All we really have now is Bendtner and we know how he and Adebayor get along. I’m wondering what Wenger will do because of this injury.

Posted from Canada