A Spain national team star, who is bound for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, has survived a traffic accident scare after he reportedly collided with a motorbike just days after being named in Luis Enrique's 26-man squad.
Various nations have suffered injury blows to key players ahead of the World Cup, with reigning champions France losing out on the likes of national team stalwarts N'Golo Kante and Paul Pogba. England lost Reece James, while Germany will also be without forwards Timo Werner and Marco Reus.
While 2022 African Footballer of the Year Sadio Mane has been named in the Senegal squad despite his injury, Spain are now understood to have narrowly avoided a big setback of their own as one of their players was unscathed after a traffic crash on Sunday.
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According to Spanish outlet Cadena SER, FC Barcelona youngster Ansu Fati collided with a motorist while attempting to park his car, resulting in the driver being thrown off his bike. Fati sustained no injuries and he accompanied the victim as he was immediately taken to the hospital, where tests confirmed that he had broken his ankle in the process.
Losing the 20-year-old would have been a huge blow for Enrique, who has continually spoken about Fati's recurring injury and fitness issues, which kept him out of the Spain squad during the September international break.
According to Barca Universal, the decision to select the Guinea Bissau-born star came at the last minute, as Enrique was weighing up choosing Real Betis attacker Borja Iglesias instead.
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Unfortunately, the La Masia graduate has been riddled with injuries since his breakout season for Barca in 2019/20. To date, he has missed 84 matches through various knee and hamstring problems, per Transfermarkt.
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