Steve Mandanda will miss the World Cup after the France second-choice keeper suffered a cracked neck vertebra during his Olympique Marseille team's last Ligue 1 game on Saturday, the Ligue 1 club president said on Sunday. Mandanda was hit in the face by Mustapha Yatabare's knee in OM's 1-0 win against En Avant Guingamp. "I feel a great disappointment for the player, who is going to miss an important competition," Vincent Labrune told French radio RMC. OM doctor Christophe Baudot told the club's website (www.om.net): "Steve Mandanda is suffering from a crack in his first cervical vertebra and from a cervical sprain. It will require wearing a neck brace for three weeks and the same amount of time in physiotherapy," The World Cup finals start on June 12 and France, who will also face Ecuador and Switzerland in Group E, begin their campaign against Honduras on June 15. Mandanda, who has 16 caps for France, is number two behind captain Hugo Lloris. He is likely to be replaced in the squad by St Etienne's Stephane Ruffier, who was named by coach Didier Deschamps in a seven-man stand-by list. (For moresports news andupdates,followAhramOnline Sportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand on Facebook atAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/101624.aspx
