Van Persie in hospital
0 
Johannesburg - Netherlands striker Robin van Persie is a doubt for his team's World Cup semi-final meeting with Uruguay after he went to a hospital on Saturday for a scan on the left arm he injured in the quarter-final win over Brazil.
Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk said he did not yet know the extent of the injury but did not think it was serious.
But with the semi-final only three days away, Van Marwijk is taking no chances on the forward or injured defender Joris Mathijsen.
"They are both at the hospital to have a scan," Van Marwijk said. "Robin has an arm problem and Joris a knee problem. I don't know what is, that's why they at the hospital. I don't think it is serious."
Van Persie fell on his arm during Friday's 2-1 victory in Port Elizabeth. Mathijsen pulled out of the game during the warm-up with a right knee problem.
The Dutch came from a goal down to beat Brazil but now has midfielder Nigel de Jong and defender Gregory van der Wiel suspended for the next game after they picked up yellow cards.
The rest of the players who played Brazil at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium trained in the gym on Saturday.
Van Marwijk put his other fit outfield players through a training session before he decides on replacements for De Jong and Van der Wiel.
Van Marwijk is adamant that his players should not underestimate a team that will be without leading scorer Luis Suarez after the striker was sent off for a deliberate handball in Friday's quarter-final win over Ghana.
"I always say that the next game is a dangerous game," Van Marwijk said. "This is the moment we have been waiting for for two years.
"Uruguay is a strong side and we will have to be very concentrated. They are fighters, survivors,"
Copyright News24.com. Reprinting is not allowed without express, written permission.
Go to Forum >>0 Comments