France lose Ribery to knee trouble

Franck Ribery has been ruled out of France’s World Cup qualifying matches against Austria and the Faroe Islands due to tendinitis in his left knee, the country’s coaching set-up announced on Monday.

The Bayern Munich winger was ruled out of both matches after being seen by a specialist. No replacement has yet been named.

Ribery played from the start for Bayern against Cologne in the Bundesliga on Saturday but failed to shine in a drab 0-0 draw.

It was his second consecutive league start for the Bavarian giants after an injury-disrupted start to the season but he felt pain in his knee following’s the club’s goalless draw at home to Juventus in the Champions League last Wednesday.

Having been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid in the summer, Ribery has cut an increasingly frustrated figure over the opening weeks of the 2009/10 campaign.

His club manager, Louis van Gaal, repeatedly refused to name him in Bayern’s starting XI due to his injury problems and he has also been unable to dislodge Barcelona’s Thierry Henry from the left flank in the French first team.

France host the Faroe Islands in Guingamp on Saturday before welcoming Austria to the Stade de France in Paris the following Wednesday.

They will also be without Bordeaux playmaker Yoann Gourcuff, who has been ruled out for up to 10 days with a hamstring injury.