PARIS, May 18 — France’s second choice goalkeeper Steve Mandanda said today he would miss the World Cup finals as he would not have recovered in time from a neck injury he suffered yesterday.
The 29-year-old Marseille ‘keeper, who is the understudy in the French national team to Hugo Lloris, suffered a cracked vertebra in his neck following a collision with Guingamp striker Mustapha Yatabare yesterday’s Ligue 1 match.
The Marseille medical staff had said earlier today he faced six weeks on the sidelines and Democratic of Congo-born Mandanda admitted there was no way he could be fit as the French play their opener against Honduras on June 15th.
“It is with sadness that I announce that unfortunately I will not be able to go to the World Cup,” he announced on his Twitter account.
Mandanda, capped 16 times, is all but certain to be replaced by St Etienne’s Stephane Ruffier, who has been capped once, as he was in a list of seven players placed on standby earlier in the week by national coach Didier Deschamps. — AFP
