Soccer:Barcelona captain and Spanish international defender Carles Puyol could be out of this summer's European Championships after the Catalan club announced he required knee surgery. Puyol, 34, experienced discomfort after Saturday's 4-0 defeat of Espanyol and will have an operation.
This development will be of interest to the Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni and his squad and Puyol’s Spain are in the same group, along with Croatia and Italy, in the upcoming Euro 2012 Championships in Poland and the Ukraine.
On the club’s official website, Barca explained Puyol has decided to “undergo an arthroscopy on May 12th” and that the approximate recuperation period is six weeks. Puyol is definitely out of Barca’s final Primera Division game at Real Betis at the weekend and will also miss coach Pep Guardiola’s last game in charge; the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao on May 25th.
While Puyol is a key figure for the Catalan club, however, he was a bit-part player for Spain on the way to Poland and Ukraine, starting just three games in hteir flawless campaign.
Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque will announce a provisional squad on May 15th which will then be whittled down when the final party is confirmed on May 27th. The world and European champions, Spain open their campaign against Italy on June 10th before going on to play Ireland and Croatia in Group C.
