Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman has been ruled out of this summer's World Cup with a serious knee injury.
The Netherlands international suffered the injury in his side's 1-0 defeat to Napoli at the weekend, with the 24-year-old being forced to leave the field after just 12 minutes.
Initial suggestions were that he would return to action towards the end of May, but Dutch coach Louis van Gaal has revealed that a scan on Monday confirmed that the midfielder had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament.
Van Gaal told the Dutch national team's official website: "This is dramatic for Kevin. I can imagine that his world collapsed. Kevin stood with both his club AS Roma, as with Orange for a very important period.
"Kevin had a very big contribution to our qualification for the World Cup in Brazil. But the worst is for Kevin, who sees his dreams are shattered."
Strootman has been one of Serie A's standout performers this season.
Matt Law
