Barcelona captain Puyol to miss Spain-England friendly
Madrid - Barcelona captain Carles Puyol will miss Wednesday's friendly between Spain and England after limping out of Barca's 3-1 home win against Sporting Gijon on Sunday, the Spanish football federation said Monday.
Puyol, 30, suffered a recurrence of the left thigh strain that he originally suffered in a cup match against Espanyol on January 29. He will be out of action for around one week.
Puyol only played against Gijon because both Gerard Pique and Rafa Marquez were suspended.
Ironically, Pique may now start against England because of Puyol's latest muscle injury. Pique has been called up by Spain manager Vicente del Bosque for the first time, together with fellow Barca youngster Sergio Busquets.
Del Bosque will not call up another defender to replace Puyol. There are four central defenders in his squad: Pique, Juanito of Betis, and Carlos Marchena and Raul Albiol of Valencia. (dpa)
