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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 8 JUNE 2014 47 Reus and Ribery just latest injury casualties to miss Brazil 2014 The World Cup will be without some top names who have lost their battles to recover from injury, or have been injured at the last moment after being named in the final squads for the tournament starting on Thursdayw DAVID HEIN, DPA MARCO Reus and Franck Rib- ery had their names added to the ever-growing list of star football- ers who will miss the 2014 World Cup. And there are still more who are fighting to get fit in time for the battle in Brazil. German attacking midfielder Reus had his World Cup hopes dashed Saturday as the Borussia Dortmund star was diagnosed with a partially torn ligament in his left ankle from Germany's 6-1 thrashing of Armenia, meaning he would miss about six weeks of action - and Brazil 2014. "A dream was destroyed from one second to the next," Reus said. "I really don't know how to ex- press in words what I am feel- ing. I need to look forward and go through my rehab profession- ally. Life goes on. I will come back stronger than I was." While Reus would have been a big part of Germany's high-oc- tane attack, the Bayern Munich star Ribery was even more crucial to any chance France had at the World Cup. But Les Bleus will have to make do without Ribery, who was ruled out of the tournament on Friday with a back problem. "It's a big blow for the France team and for (coach) Didier De- schamps," UEFA president and former France legend Michel Platini said. "Franck 's a really important player. He wasn't designated UEFA's number one player of the year for nothing." Unfortunately for football fans, Reus and Ribery are just the latest casualties of the injury bug ahead of the World Cup. Russia also made headlines Fri- day when they announced that captain Roman Shirokov would not play at Brazil 2014 due to an Achilles tendon injury. Colombia had been hoping for months that their star forward Radamel Falcao would make it back from his ACL injury from January. But coach Jose Peker- man finally let go of his veteran leader. The Netherlands have been hard hit with Rafael van der Vaart out with a calf injury, joining Kevin Strootman and Gregory van der Wiel in watching the World Cup at home. Italian midfielder Riccardo Montolivo recently suffered a broken leg, knocking him out of the Brazil showpiece while Luis Montes fractured his leg, mean- ing he will not make the trip. And Costa Rica saw their top active goal scorer Alvaro Saborio get ruled out with a broken metatar- sal in training in late May. Spain go into Brazil 2014 with- out Victor Valdes and Thiago Al- cantara, although striker Diego Costa looks as if he will have re- covered from a hamstring injury, and England will miss out on the services of winger Theo Walcott. England boss Roy Hodgson is still hoping he won't have to re- place another Arsenal star as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is bat- tling a knee injury sustained in England 's 2-2 draw with Ecuador in Miami on Wednesday. "It's very disappointing for Alex and the team that he sustained an injury on Wednesday," Hodgson said. "It's too early to make any deci- sions about what happens next." England have until June 13 to name a replacement should Ox- lade-Chamberlain be unable to make it. Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is battling a couple of nagging injuries, Japan captain Makoto Hasebe is still recovering from knee surgery and Uruguay Luis Suarez is fighting off a me- niscus issue. Those countries and the rest of the participating nations at the World Cup hope they won't need to make any more decisions of the like in the final week before Brazil 2014 kicks off France's chances at the 2014 World Cup took a huge blow on 06 June 2014 as superstar Franck Ribery was ruled out of the Brazil spectacle with a back injury. Photo by: EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER Germany's Marco Reus lies injured on the pitch during the international friendly soccer match between Germany and Armenia at the Coface Arena in Mainz, Germany Photo by: EPA/THOMAS EISENHUTH The 2014 World Cup Get all the latest updates