Head injuries have been a major
talking point since Wayne Rooney was forced to pull out of England's two
vital World Cup qualifiers this week with a deep gash.
The
Manchester United striker posted a picture on Facebook of the deep gash
on his forehead after an accidental training ground collision with Phil
Jones.
England
team-mate Theo Walcott described Rooney's wound as 'like something out
of a horror film', so who knows what he would have made of Manuel Pasqual's bloody mess.
Bloody mess: Italy's midfielder Manuel Pasqual receives treatment for head injury
Italy's midfielder Manuel Pasqual lies injured
The Italy defender sustained a deep cut during a midair clash with Libor Kozak
towards the end of Tuesday's World Cup qualifier against Czech Republic.
His club Fiorentina revealed on Wednesday that Pasqual required seven stitches on his
forehead and was kept in hospital overnight.In a statement, the club said: 'The Viola skipper never lost consciousness but remained in hospital overnight for further tests as a precautionary measure.'
Heads up: Pasqual (R) challenges Libor Kozak of Czech Republic
Nice one: Italy's Mario Balotelli blows a kiss to the crowd after scoring from the penalty spot
Four-times World Cup
winners Italy clinched a place at the 2014 finals in Brazil after coming
from a goal down to beat Czech Republic 2-1 and win Group B.
A
Giorgio Chiellini header and Mario Balotelli's penalty early in the
second half cancelled out Libor Kozak's 19th minute opener for the
visitors and moved the Italians on to 20 points, seven ahead of
second-placed Bulgaria with two games to play.
Balotelli's
54th-minute winner capped a typically eventful night for the striker,
who missed three easy first-half chances and was lucky not to get sent
off for a foul on Tomas Sivok.
'I've never missed two such easy chances before, I was unlucky but I kept going until the end,' Balotelli said.
'The
easier one was the second one that (keeper Petr) Cech dropped to me. I
shot high because I thought that if I shot low he would have saved it
but I ended up hitting it too high.'
Deep cut: Wayne posted this picture on his Facebook page following a nasty head injury last week
Healing nicely: Rooney pictured on the beach in Portugal while England were out in Ukraine for vital World Cup qualifier
Michal Bilek's spirited
Czech side were unlucky not to get at least a point against Cesare
Prandelli's unconvincing Italy and their night finished on a sour note
when Daniel Kolar was sent off for a silly foul on Balotelli in the last
minute.
Had Kozak's smart
curling shot sneaked inside the post after a blistering counter-attack
in first-half stoppage time it could have been a different result
against the patchy hosts, who despite being favourites to qualify
frequently put themselves under unnecessary pressure.
'I
always have a terror when people start talking about partying,' said
Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon, who equalled Fabio Cannavaro's record of
136 Azzurri appearances.
'Having
passed the terror we had in the first half we can now celebrate, and I
can celebrate this small record of mine, as well as getting a ticket for
Brazil.'
The result means
the Czechs remain on nine points and are staring elimination in the
face. They have slipped into fourth place behind Denmark who won 1-0 in
Armenia and moved on to 12 points to stand one point behind Bulgaria,
who beat Malta 2-1.
The Czechs must win their last two games away to Malta and Bulgaria next month to have any chance of a playoff place.
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