Pablo Barrera To Miss Remainder Of Season With Knee Injury

Pablo Barrera will miss the remainder of Cruz Azul's season and the rest of Mexico's third round of World Cup qualifying with a cruciate injury to his left knee. He came out of Cruz Azul's match versus Pachuca over the weekend clearly injured, but the extent of the injury is worse than most imagined.

The worst part for Barrera is that his injury comes just as he was beginning to find his form again for Cruz Azul. After a disastrous season on loan with Real Zaragoza last year, Barrera moved back to Mexico in hopes of putting things back together and after a slow start, he was starting to do so with a few good matches. Oddly, he did it in his last two matches playing centrally as opposed to his more normal spot on the right wing, but form is form and he had found it. Now he is looking at a prolonged absence.

Barrera was called in by Mexico for its two World Cup qualifiers this week versus Costa Rica, but now will obviously have to pull out. He will also miss their final two qualifiers of the third round in October. While El Tri should not have any problem qualifying for the final round, Barrera has had a rough go of it for Mexico of late. Now Angel Reyna will get a chance on the right wing for Mexico and Barrera may not have a starting spot waiting for him when he gets back.

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