Marco van Ginkel injury confirmed as torn ACL

Bad news alert. And I mean seriously bad news: Marco van Ginkel is set to miss a significant amount of time with a torn ACL:

Terrible news. MRI scan reveals Marco van Ginkel tore ACL. Surgery this week. Rob Jansen (agent) confirms. Could miss rest of ssn. [ad] #cfc

— Mohamed Moallim (@jouracule) September 25, 2013

Van Ginkel's injury, sustained early on against Swindon Town, looked phenomenally ugly when it happened and it's not really a surprise that it's this severe. But that doesn't mean that there wasn't hope that it would somehow magically be fine, and now there's not.

Obviously, this is deeply unfortunate for our midfield depth. Van Ginkel had, in the preseason, looked capable of playing anywhere in the midfield, and I was pretty excited to see what he might be able to do given an extended chance. With games coming in thick and fast, he was about to see much more action, and now that chance has been cruelly taken away. And on a personal note for him, it means he's almost certain to miss the 2014 World Cup with the Netherlands.

No way to spin this one into something positive: This sucks.