Zullo forced out of friendly
17/03/2008 1:10 PM
Queensland Roar winger Michael Zullo will miss the Socceroos upcoming friendly against Singapore after aggravating a knee injury.
The 19-year-old was due to fly out with the national team on Monday but withdrew from the squad after suffering the injury during a gym session last week.
Queensland physio Tony Ganter said the friendly was one week too early for Zullo to recover in time.
"Michael’s irritated the attachment of his right patella tendon and inflamed the growth plate on his shin," Ganter said.
"We treated it during the week and it settled to a degree, but he was unable to train at full intensity on Friday last week and following liaison with the Socceroos medical staff, the directive from Pim Verbeek was that all players who were coming to camp on Monday needed to be 100 per cent fit and have absolutely no deficits in their function or limits in their training."
Roar coach Frank Farina said it was a cruel blow for the young star to miss out on such an important fixture.
"It’s a blow for Michael and he is terribly disappointed but these things happen in football and all setbacks make ultimately make you stronger," Farina said.
"He did enough to get himself noticed and he will get his chance again."