Injury forces Robinho off Brazil’s Beijing squad

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Real Madrid has asked the Brazilian football federation to drop Robinho from its Olympic squad because a medical examination discovered that the player has a groin injury.

‘Real Madrid [has] contacted the Brazilian FA via fax, explaining the injury and requesting the player’s absence from the national squad list for the Olympic Games,’ the club said in a statement on its website.

Real Madrid said that the injury was discovered when the player arrived for a medical examination and light training along with most of the club’s squad. ‘The best thing for the player is to complete preseason training with the squad where he will be given rehabilitation tailored to his injury and where he will be under constant supervision,’ said the statement.

The Associated Press reports that the 24-year-old forward is disappointed but will heed Real Madrid’s wishes: ‘Unhappily, I can’t go with Brazil to the games, but it is Real Madrid’s decision and I respect it,’ said Robinho, who first unveiled his Olympic plans back in May.

Robinho’s agent, Wagner Ribeiro, said he has never seen the player ‘so sad.’

‘He is an extremely happy person,’ Ribeiro told the UOL website. ‘The last time I saw him like this was when his mother was kidnapped.’

-- Greg Johnson