Cesc Fabregas will not feature for the Spanish national team in their upcoming games against Belarus and Germany after aggravating a hamstring issue by playing for Chelsea against Liverpool last Saturday.
Following the pivotal clash at Anfield, which Chelsea won 2-1, Blues boss Jose Mourinho revealed that Fabregas had played with an injury and that he had “gambled” by playing the Spanish playmaker.
“Fabregas has a hamstring injury,” Mourinho admitted. “He is a fantastic professional. He gambled... I also gambled. He made himself available.”
Chelsea’s boss was then asked if Fabregas could link up with Spain for the international break and simply replied “he can’t. If he does, he will be back.”
And that is exactly what happened.
The old club vs. country debate will rumble on around this one as Fabregas clearly put his club side before that of his national team. Is that right? Fabregas’ Chelsea teammate Diego Costa was left out of the latest Spain’s squad so he could recover from injury but Mourinho went ahead and put Fabregas’ fitness in jeopardy for an important league match.
Spanish national team boss Vicente del Bosque was probably less than happy with that, but with a winnable European qualifier against Belarus and then a friendly against Germany next week, Spain should be fine without Fabregas.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Spanish Football Federation gave the following assessment of Fabregas’ injury:“The Chelsea midfielder has been ruled out for the games against Belarus and Germany following tests and an evaluation of his condition that was carried out this morning by the medical staff of the Spanish national team.
“The MRI done this morning in the Sanitas Clinic in La Moraleja (Madrid) showed a clear improvement with respect to the one done by his club on Sunday.
“Although the MRI discards a hamstring tear, the player continues to have discomfort and the medical team considers that his involvement in the next games would not be advisable for his complete recovery.”Follow @JPW_NBCSports
