Ruben Dias set to miss Portugal’s World cup qualifier

Manchester City defender Ruben Dias is set to miss Portugal’s Word Cup qualifier this month against Turkey as the central defender has been ruled out for up to six weeks due to a hamstring injury. His manager Pep Guardiola confirmed his injury in the press conference and said that Dias won’t be available for the upcoming Manchester Derby on Sunday and will also miss out on the chance of representing his national team this month.

Portugal will face Turkey in the World Cup qualifying game and might be facing the 2021 European champions Italy in the final round of the play-off which will decide which of the two teams will go on to play in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Dias’s injury occurred in Manchester City’s 2-0 win against Peterborough which eventually means that John Stones and Aymeric Laporte are the only first-team center-backs available for selection for Sunday’s Manchester derby as defender Nathan Ake has also been ruled out with a less serious injury.

Pep also talked to the press about this situation and was evidently not happy about the situation regarding the defensive injuries. He said “It happens in a season. I don’t love it, we need him – a lot. Ruben is massively important to us but he’s not there.”

“I’m not going to cry. We have just two central defenders. It is what it is.”

It will be interesting to see how the citizens manage to play two intense tournaments with just two main centre backs at their disposal as the season comes to its final moments now.