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French national team defender Zinedine Zidane will not help Real Madrid in the match against Deportivo La Coruna this Wednesday due to a groin injury.
"He feels pain and cannot move normally," explained Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo. "He felt pain while playing - I don't think he will play against Betis on Saturday."
The 33-year-old defender has not played this season for a month due to a groin injury he suffered in September during a match against Ireland. Zidane managed to recover and help France secure a place in the 2006 World Cup in Germany with victories against Cyprus and Switzerland, but according to experts, the Frenchman's performance for Real was disappointing.
Contrary to critics, Luxemburgo defended the Real star: "He is still a fantastic player. Football fans are quick to criticize. Everyone had bad moments: Zico, Cruyff, Pele, Maradona, but they all got through them."
"Zinedine will always have my trust. We can only hope that he will recover from the injury and once again delight Real fans with his magical play," said the Brazilian.
In addition to the bad news, today Real also received some good news - the disciplinary committee of the Spanish Football Federation overturned the red card for David Beckham. The Englishman received this card in the match against Valencia, which Real lost 1-2, for clapping after receiving a yellow card from the referee. However, the disciplinary committee decided that Beckham did not intend to offend the referee.
However, Real did not request the red card to be overturned for another defender, Thomas Gravesen. The Dane received a card for a rough foul from behind against Valencia star Vicente, when the Spaniard took the ball from him.
Before the Wednesday match against Deportivo, Real has been heavily hit: due to injuries, Brazilians Julio Baptista and Ronaldo, as well as defender Michel Salgado, cannot play, and due to red cards received in the match against Valencia, defender Thomas Gravesen will also be unable to play. Instead of them, Luxemburgo included five reserve team players in the preliminary lineup.
