Ryan Babel injury scare threatens World Cup for Liverpoool FC’s Holland star

Ryan Babel 300RYAN BABEL will discover today whether his World Cup dreams have been shattered at the last moment.The Liverpool forward was taken to hospital in Austria last night to undergo a scan on his hamstring he damaged yesterday in Holland's pre-World Cup training camp.Babel was inconsolable as he was helped into a people carrier by his close friend, Arsenal striker Robin van Persie, and it is understood the Dutch fear the injury is bad.If Babel - who featured in all bar two of Liverpool's final 23 games - has torn his hamstring, he could be sidelined for anything between six and eight weeks and that would rule him out of the reckoning for Holland's final 23-man squad.Results of the scans will not be known until some point today but, even if it proves to be a minor strain, Babel will already face a race to be fit for Holland's opening Group E game against Denmark in Johannesburg on June 14.Should Babel be denied the opportunity to go to the World Cup, it would be the second time injury has cost him the chance to play in a major international tournament.Back in 2008, the 23-year-old was poised to go to Austria and Switzerland for the European Championships but suffered an ankle problem in the build-up and was forced to stay at home.

Source: Liverpool_Echo