Going to a match against Kosovo and coming off with discomfort is something that brings back very bad memories for RCD Mallorca. A little less than a year ago, Vedat Muriqi suffered a serious muscle injury with his national team, on a muddy pitch, and the player ended up paying dearly for it, as did Mallorca.
It happened in Cyprus, after scoring two goals against Kosovo in the 0-4 victory, one of them a penalty, the Mallorcan striker asked to be substituted, as the coach admitted, after feeling some discomfort on this occasion due to a collision with his own goalkeeper when he tried to clear the ball. Muriqi was already suffering from discomfort from the previous match against Romania (0-3).
Coach Franco Foda said the player “had problems during the match against Romania, so we had to take him off. He hasn’t trained with us for two days, but after some tests we decided he could play against Cyprus. However, after the first half he felt uncomfortable again, so we had to replace him.”
We will have to wait until his return to Palma to see how he is in the lead-up to Saturday’s match against Villarreal. Initially, it does not seem like serious discomfort, but experience shows that it is better to be cautious when it comes to FIFA dates and their consequences for clubs.
As for the rest of Mallorca’s internationals, the last to arrive will be Asano, who today plays with Japan against Bahrain, Larin, who plays with Canada against Javier Aguirre’s Mexico and Toni Amor, and Mojica, who next morning plays against Argentina with Colombia.
Mascarell played the full 90 minutes for Equatorial Guinea in the 2-2 draw against Togo, while Robert Navarro is due to play today for Spain under 21s against Hungary in their bid to secure a ticket to the European Championships at the Széktói Stadium in Kecskemét. The new Mallorcan was called up urgently after Moleiro’s injury. Finally, March Domenech has been with the Spanish under 19 team.
