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Mexico's Luis Montes scored a beautiful goal in the 33rd minute of his team's friendly with Ecuador. Three minutes later he was on the turf with a broken leg, his World Cup dreams shattered.
Montes broke his right tibia after colliding with Ecuador's Segundo Castillo, who suffered an injury as well. His status is in question for Brazil, as well.
But Montes is clearly worse off, and Mexico manager Miguel Herrera said his team was pretty shook up.
"It hit them very hard,” Herrera said, according to the Dallas Morning News. "Everyone was on the sideline. A few were crying, tears in their eyes. It was a tough situation.
"Right now we’re not thinking about the next games. Right now we want to have a good talk with the players. It’s an unfortunate situation, and we have to keep moving forward."
Mexico has two more friendlies on American soil before they open World Cup group play against Cameroon.
Important Portugal update: Just kidding. It's a team selfie snapped by Cristiano Ronaldo.
A team representing a country! #ForçaPortugal pic.twitter.com/a8ywntsZwm
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) June 2, 2014
Giuseppe Rossi displeased with Italy snub: American-born striker Giuseppe Rossi has again been left off the Italy National Team roster, and he's a bit salty about it.
Everyone says I'm not in shape: I dare them to ask anyone for the test results and those of the match. You'll be surprised.
— GIUSEPPE ROSSI (@GiuseppeRossi22) June 2, 2014
Getting tackle on? Scared? Makes me laugh. My decision making is faster than the defenders...
— GIUSEPPE ROSSI (@GiuseppeRossi22) June 2, 2014
...next time, like an amateur, I'll wait for my opponents to get tackled on. Just some things I wanted to clear up.
— GIUSEPPE ROSSI (@GiuseppeRossi22) June 2, 2014
Rossi is recovering from a recent knee injury, and Italy manager Cesare Prandelli isn't fully confident that the striker's mind is right coming off the injury.
"Giuseppe is disappointed and bitter," Rossi's agent told Gazzetta dello Sport, via Sky Sports. "Now he will support his teammates. It's an exclusion that we accept with some regret but without making any controversy because it doesn't serve for anything.
"The only thing I can say is that Giuseppe has made incredible sacrifices in the last five months and unfortunately, it hasn't been enough. This is why the exclusion weighs heavy on us."
Prandelli had included Rossi on the preliminary squad after the player had missed four months with a right knee injury, the third of his career.
