Villa almost certain to miss Euro final
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Euro 2008's leading scorer David Villa of Spain will almost certainly miss Monday morning's (Australian time) final against Germany even though he has only sustained a minor tear to his right thigh muscle.
"He has almost been ruled out," team doctor Jesus Jimenez told reporters outside the team hotel in Vienna. "The tests done in hospital today revealed a small tear to the muscle in the back of his right thigh.
"In normal circumstances he would be out of action for between a week and 10 days. He couldn't play today, but he is not totally ruled out yet even though it is very unlikely he will play. He could be on the bench for the game however.
"He is receiving physiotherapy and we'll assess him again tomorrow, but as I said he will almost certainly not be able to play."
Villa, who has scored four times during the tournament, sustained the injury during a sprint early in the semi-final against Russia and then aggravated it when taking a free kick.
He was replaced by Cesc Fabregas 10 minutes before half-time and Spain went on to win 3-0, with the midfielder setting up two of his side's goals in the second half.
-Reuters
