Carles Puyol likely to miss Euro 2012

MADRID. May 8. KAZINFORM The Spain and Barcelona defender Carles Puyol could be out of this summer's European Championships after his club announced he needs knee surgery.

The 34-year-old experienced discomfort after Saturday's 4-0 defeat of Espanyol and he will now undergo arthroscopic surgery on Saturday, Barça said in a statement. "The estimated time he will be out of action is around six weeks," the statement added.

Puyol is definitely out of the club's final La Liga game of the season at Real Betis at the weekend and he will also miss Pep Guardiola's last match in charge - the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao on 25 May.

His participation in Poland and Ukraine is also extremely doubtful. The Spain coach, Vicente del Bosque, will announce a provisional squad next week which will then be whittled down when the final party is confirmed on 27 May.

The loss of Puyol - who has 99 international caps - would be a major blow to the world and European champions, who begin the defence of their title against Italy on 10 June, before going on to play the Republic of Ireland and Croatia in Group C.

His absence would likely mean that Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos partners Puyol's Barça team-mate Gerard Piqué in central defence, Kazinform has learnt from the Guardian.