The social networks bring us crumbs of comfort as thoughts turn to Rafael Van der Vaart’s hamstring. Arsene Wenger takes no chances with his precious Dutchman, while elsewhere England and Wales earn victories without taking casualties…
We gained further insight into Rafael Van der Vaart’s condition yesterday – typically via Twitter. While Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk had stated on Friday that he felt that Van der Vaart’s injury was a “mild sprain”, the player himself has gone out of his way to offer further reassurance…
“Suffered a minor hamstring injury during yesterdays game against Switzerland.”
That was then followed swiftly by…
“So very disappointed I won’t play Germany in Hamburg on Tuesday, hope to be back real quick!”
The Dutchman’s Fantasy owners will gain some hope from this then, particularly given that Tottenham’s next fixture is on the Monday night, allowing Van der Vaart more time to recover from any problem. We can hopefully expect to hear more from the club themselves on the situation in the next 24-hours. Until then, it appears that Van der Vaart could still be in the frame for gameweek 12.
While the stress of losing his Dutch craftsman is the last thing Harry Redknapp needed, Arsene Wenger has taken no such risks with his prized asset. It’s been confirmed that Robin Van Persie will sit out of Holland’s friendly with Germany on Tuesday having played in Friday’s game. That would appear to assure that the Dutchman starts in Arsenal’s trip to Carrow Road in gameweek 12.
England’s vaunted 1-0 win over Spain saw an array of impressive displays from the likes of Scott Parker, Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka. Crucially, there were no apparent injuries on either side as both England and Spain made a string of second-half changes that saw Theo Walcott, Frank Lampard and Darren Bent replaced early on, while David Silva was also rested at half-time for the Spaniards.
Unfortunately, all these players face a further friendly match on Tuesday, with England hosting Sweden and Spain making the gruelling 11,000 mile trip to Costa Rica.
Fabio Capello at least confirmed following yesterday’s game that he intends to rotate his lineup for the meet with Sweden. John Terry, Gary Cahill, Kyle Walker, Bobby Zamora and Daniel Sturridge will all start Tuesday’s clash and so their Fantasy owners will certainly face further anxiety.
Gareth Bale continued his strong early season form with a rasping near post finish and another strong display as Wales saw off Norway 4-1 in Cardiff. Liverpool’s Craig Bellamy also impressed and got himself on the scoresheet, while the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Ashley Williams, Joe Allen, Andrew Crofts and Steve Morison all came through the game unscathed.
Norway had John Arne Riise, Brede Hangeland and Morten Gamst Pedersen in opposition – again, there were no obvious injuries to report. Both sets of players will now return to their respective clubs ahead of gameweek 12.
Yaya Toure played out 85 minutes for the Ivory Coast in their 1-1 draw with South Africa. Brother Kolo completed the 90 minutes, as did Arsenal’s Gervinho. Tottenham’s Steven Pienaar built up his fitness following injury with 90 minutes for the home side. Again, both sets of players will now return to their clubs ahead of the weekend fixtures.
