TUNIS, April 11, 2018 - Tunisia are hopeful that their star performer in the qualifiers, Youssef Msakni, can recover in time to play in the World Cup (WC) finals in June after sustaining a knee injury at the weekend. The talismanic forward, regarded as key to Tunisia's hopes of upsetting Belgium and England in Russia, was said to have been ruled out of the tournament after rupturing cruciate knee ligaments in a Qatari league game on Saturday. However, Tunisian reports on Wednesday suggested the injury might not be as serious as initially reported and that the Al Duhail forward might yet be fit for the tournament. "It could be a partial rupture, in which case we would proceed with a small intervention that would allow him to recover quickly," Tunisia team doctor Souheil Chemli told the daily La Presse on Wednesday. Msakni was likely to fly to the US for surgery in the next few days, his club said. Tunisia have been drawn in Group G at the World Cup, where they open against England in Volgograd on June 18, before meeting Belgium in Moscow on June 23 and Panama in Saransk five days later. Meanwhile, Serbia centre back Matija Nastasic faces several weeks out with a knee injury and is doubtful for the June 14-July 15 World Cup in Russia. "I will be sidelined for several weeks after damaging my knee ligaments but I don't know exactly how long or whether I will recover in time for the World Cup," the 25-year old defender told Belgrade's B92 website (www.b92.net) on Wednesday. Nastasic, who plays for Bundesliga side Schalke, did not specify when or how he got injured. He was substituted in the latter stages of their 3-2 defeat at Hamburg SV on Saturday. His absence would be a huge blow to Serbia's hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the 32-nation tournament in Russia, with coach Mladen Krstajic devoid of enough quality options at the back. Serbia, who qualified for their first major tournament since the 2010 World Cup, are in Group E alongside Brazil, Switzerland and Costa Rica. They start the campaign against Costa Rica on June 17 in Samara, followed by games against the Swiss in Kaliningrad on June 22 and Brazil in Moscow five days later.
