France’s hopes of reaching the latter stages of the World Cup have been dealt a major blow with the news that winger Franck Ribery will miss the tournament with a back injury. The Bayern Munich star came into the tournament looking to build on the success he has achieved in recent years. He was recently named as the third best player in the world after helping Bayern Munich lift the Champions League in the season before last. However, Ribery felt an aggravation in the back injury that has been troubling him throughout the campaign.

This has seen him leave the French national team in order to recover from injury. He has been ruled out for the next few months of action. After learning about his injury, Ribery stated that it is extremely sad thing tomorrow that he will not be part of the World Cup 2014. It is also likely that this was his last World Cup. At 31 years of age, he is unlikely to take part in the next World Cup in Russia.
Ribery was seen as one of the main chance creators with the French team. Manager Didier Deschamps also revealed that it was a sad day for the national team, but he is hoping that the players still within the squad prove more than capable of replacing him.

“He had to come to a complete stop during sprint exercises after feeling serious pain. Everything led us to conclude that it is impossible for him to resume training within a few weeks, let alone play a match. We have to keep our ambitions, though obviously we perform better with a Ribéry that is 100% fit,” said the French manager. Despite this injury, it is looking highly unlikely that the former Marseille men will call up Samir Nasri to the squad.