Meghni salta i mondiali. Peccato, le possibilità di cederlo diventano davvere poche senza la vetrina sudafricana.
Algerian coach Rabah Saadane has admitted that dropping midfielder Mourad Meghni from his World Cup squad due to a nagging knee injury had been a "very difficult" decision.
"We had put a lot into getting Mourad back (playing), he's a very significant element in the team. But together with the medical team, knowing that he has little chance of recovering... we made the decision together that he must undergo an operation," said Saadane.
"It is in his interest, in the interest of the national team and his career, it was very difficult personally," said a tearful Saadane who stopped speaking momentarily.
"It was very hard, we are a family, but these decisions must be made and the decision is there," added Saadane in the Swiss alpine resort of Crans-Montana, where the team has set up camp.
The Algerian Football Federation had announced earlier Tuesday that Meghni, who plays for Lazio, was "not fit to take part in the next World Cup in South Africa" due to a persistent left knee injury.
Meghni himself said that he would "return to get treatment." "If according to the doctors, I can rejoin them in South Africa, I will try," said Meghni.
