Napoli defender Raul Albiol has been ruled out of Spain's World Cup qualifiers against Belarus and Georgia later this month due to a muscular injury.
The Spanish Football Federation confirmed the player's absence after receiving evidence of Albiol's injury from Napoli on Saturday morning.
The 28-year-old had been named in Vicente del Bosque's 23-man squad for both matches on Friday and the former Real Madrid boss is expected to draft in another defender as cover before the squad meets up in Madrid on Tuesday.
Albiol has been capped 42 times by his country, but remains very much Del Bosque's backup option to the first-choice pairing of Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos.
Source: AFP
