Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane will miss Friday's crucial World Cup qualifier against Germany in Dublin after aggravating an Achilles injury.
Keane had been unable to train for the last two days after his long-running Achilles problem flared up again following a tackle with team-mate Paul McShane in a practice session earlier this week.
While the LA Galaxy striker has been ruled out of the Lansdowne Road clash with the Germans, he is still in contention to feature in Tuesday's trip to the Faroe Islands.
"Robbie Keane has been ruled out of the Germany game with an Achilles injury. Will hopefully be fit for Faroes," the Football Association of Ireland announced on their Twitter feed.
Keane's absence is a major blow to Ireland's hopes of beating Germany as the former Tottenham and Liverpool forward had been expected to play as the lone attacker in coach Giovanni Trapattoni's team.
The 32-year-old, who has 54 international goals, will be replaced by one of Shane Long, Jon Walters or Simon Cox.
Keane was in line to win his 122nd cap against Joachim Low's side but instead he will miss his first competitive Ireland game since the Euro 2012 qualifying win against Armenia in October last year.
His injury is the latest problem for Trapattoni's injury-hit squad following the withdrawals earlier this week of Sean St Ledger, Glenn Whelan, Kevin Doyle and James McClean.
Source: AFP
