Top > Sport > 2006 > June > 2006-06-01

Van Der Varrt Place in World Cup Unclear

Netherlands fans are worried that Van der Varrt place in the upcoming World Cup is not secure now that the Dutch player suffered an ankle injury. Rafael Van der Vaart suffered a fresh ankle injury during Netherlands preparations for World Cup on Monday. Even if Van der Varrt missed only a few matches at the beginning of the tournament, his absence might prove to be devastating, as Netherlands` Group D is the considered to be a `death house`.

Van der Varrt was sidelined during Netherlands` match on Saturday. The Dutch team played against Cameroon and scored a 1-0 victory. Van der Vaart ceased training on Monday after a ball hit his recently operated-on ankle. Coach Marco van Basten told reporters: `It is obvious that his ankle is not comfortable and we will have to see how serious this injury is.`

The Dutch team will have their opening Group D match on June 11 against Serbia and Montenegro. It is not clear how long Van der Vaart will take to recover from this injury but for Netherlands` sake ? it better be before June 21 when they face World Cup favorite Argentina.