Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
Sport

Biglia suffers back injury less than two months before World Cup

Soccer Football - International Friendly - Italy vs Argentina - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - March 23, 2018 Argentina’s Lucas Biglia REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

MILAN (Reuters) - Argentina midfielder Lucas Biglia has suffered a back injury, his club AC Milan said on Sunday, which appears to have put his participation at the World Cup in serious doubt.

Milan said in a statement that Biglia had suffered "a severe lumbar trauma" following an injury during Saturday's 1-0 Serie A defeat against Benevento.

"The player has undergone medical examinations that highlighted a fracture of the transverse processes of the first two lumbar vertebrae," said the club in a statement.

"A detailed prognosis will be issued in the coming days upon completion of all medical tests."

According to specialist websites, a fracture of the transverse process is a relatively rare injury that takes four to six weeks to heal but usually requires a further month's recovery time afterwards.

Argentina's first World Cup match is against Iceland on June 16.

Biglia started the quarter-final, semi-final and final of Argentina's campaign in the 2014 World Cup where they finished as runners-up to Germany.

The 32-year-old has been a regular since then and played in most of their 18-match qualifying campaign.

(Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne; Editing by Clare Fallon)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.