Spain confirm Fabregas hamstring injury; player returns to Chelsea

Mind games within mind games within mind games.  Also, sometimes, the honest truth.

"The Chelsea midfielder has been ruled out for the games against Belarus and Germany following tests and an evaluation of his condition that was carried out this morning by the medical staff of the Spanish national team."

"The MRI done this morning in the Sanitas Clinic in La Moraleja (Madrid) showed a clear improvement with respect to the one done by his club on Sunday."

"Although the MRI discards a hamstring tear, the player continues to have discomfort and the medical team considers that his involvement in the next games would not be advisable for his complete recovery."

-source: Spanish Football Federation via The Guardian

Spain have called up Villareal's Bruno Soriano to replace the Chelsea man.  Bruno hasn't played for La Furia Roja in over two years.

Other than for Cesc's personal quest to reach a century of caps for his country, this is basically good news all-around.  Mourinho had expected him out for up to three weeks, but this MRI rules out an actual tear.  Fabregas will get to properly rest for the next 10 days (alongside fellow injury concern Diego Costa), and hopefully be recovered enough for West Bromwich Albion on the 22nd of November.

While it's a bit silly that Spain made him fly all the way to Madrid just to have a medical scan, maybe the matching diagnoses arrived at by both club and country will lead to a bit more trust and better cooperation between the two sides over player fitness and availability.

And then, the next step is world peace.