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Víctor Munoz arrived at the World Cup still recovering from a calf (soleus) muscle injury in his left leg, and now tests have revealed a fresh muscular problem that sets him back again.
Spain’s medical team had been carefully managing the Liverpool winger after he suffered a soleus injury at the end of April, which already forced him to miss several matches and put his World Cup participation in doubt.
While he was close to rejoining full training and potentially returning for Spain, the federation has confirmed he has developed an “additional muscular ailment” during his recovery work.
“During the programmed and individualized recovery process, an additional muscle ailment has occurred that will delay his incorporation into the competition. His availability for the next matches will depend on the evolution of his symptoms,” the RFEF medical team said in a statement as quoted by Cadena Ser.
The Spanish outlet themselves add that he may only return in time for the knockout phase should Spain qualify from their group:
“This injury to Victor Munoz comes at the worst possible time. It completely disrupts his rhythm just as he was beginning to compete on equal terms with his teammates. [The injury] causes a disruption to the planning for the match against Saudi Arabia.”
“This additional ailment, which the RFEF does not specify, means that the winger cannot rejoin the group as planned. He will miss the group stage at the expense of knowing if they will be able to be in the knockout stage.”