BILLERBECK, June 13: Serbia & Montenegro centre back Nemanja Vidic will miss the remainder of the World Cup after damaging knee ligaments in training on Monday. “Unfortunately, our defender Nemanja Vidic is out for the rest of the tournament after sustaining a serious knee injury in Monday's training,” team spokesman Aleksandar Boskovic said on Tuesday.

“He was carried off in excruciating pain. A detailed medical check-up established damage to his left knee ligaments and he will be sidelined for several weeks at least,” he said.

Vidic was due to return to the team for the crunch Group C match with Argentina on Friday having missed the 1-0 opening defeat by the Netherlands through suspension.

His absence will be a massive blow for the Serbs, who are under pressure to get a result and now have only 21 players to choose from after the coach's son Dusan Petkovic left the squad over a nepotism row before the tournament started.

“Obviously, Nemanja is a bit down at the moment as his dream of playing in the World Cup has been shattered. But he will be alright as he is a tough lad,” Boskovic said.

Coach Ilija Petkovic will once again be forced to field a makeshift defence and is likely to start with Igor Duljaj at right back after his experiment with Nenad Djordjevic backfired when Dutch winger Arjen Roben gave him a torrid time.

Goran Gavrancic will be in central defence again to cover for Vidic while Ognjen Koroman, who looked lively on the right wing after coming on for Djordjevic just before halftime against Netherlands, should start in Gelsenkirchen on Friday.

“We know this is a must-win game for us and we will have to attack. Beating Argentina will be a mountain of a task because we are talking about the best team in the world,” Koroman said.

“Their midfield and strikers are always a handful for any opposition but we won't lie down and roll over. If we go down, we will go down fighting.”

Serbia & Montenegro complete their opening round fixtures against Ivory Coast, who lost their opening match to Argentina 2-1 and meet Netherlands in Stuttgart on Friday.

KOLLER IN FITNESS BATTLE

WESTERBURG: Czech striker Jan Koller has strained his hamstring and may not be fit until the quarter-final stage of the World Cup, the team's doctor said on Tuesday.

“It could be anything between 10 days and six weeks,” doctor Jiri Foucek told reporters.

“We hope that he would be able to play in a quarter-final.”

Koller was carried off on a stretcher just before halftime in Monday's game against the United States, which the Czech

Republic won 3-0, thanks in part to an early goal from Koller.

There have been conflicting reports over the severity of the injury, with coach Karel Brueckner saying on Monday it was serious but others, including Koller himself, saying he might only miss a game or two.

Brueckner now finds himself without three of his main forwards. Vladimir Smicer had already pulled out before the tournament with an injury and Koller's usual partner Milan Baros has hardly trained in Germany because of a foot problem.

“Koller, Baros, Smicer, these are serious losses for us,” Brueckner told reporters after a training session at the team's Westerburg base.

But he said that did not mean the team would fall apart.

“We have played several times without Koller, without (Vratislav) Lokvenc, without Baros, without (Pavel) Nedved, without (Tomas) Rosicky ... we're not going to have the ideal line-up. But there is strength ... in the team,” he said.

That strength showed itself on Monday in the form of midfielders Rosicky, who scored two goals, and Nedved, who despite his 33 years outpaced younger opponents on the pitch.

Ahead of the next Group E match against Ghana on Saturday, doctors could not offer Brueckner comfort in the form of a return to fitness of Baros, who hurt his foot in a friendly on June 3.—Reuters