Iran's player of the year to miss World Cup

DPA - Iran's midfielder Mojtaba Jabari, who was unanimously voted by the local sports press as player of the year, has been injured during the national team's training camp in Switzerland and will miss the World Cup, Fars news agency reported Friday.

Jabari suffered a severe meniscus injury during a training session in Spiez and the team's medical team has ruled out his presence in the World Cup.

Iran's co-trainer Hossein Faraki confirmed the report and told ISNA that Jabari would return to Tehran on Friday night for an operation either inside Iran or abroad.

The news network Khabar termed the injury 'a great shock for Iran's football.'

The 23-year-old Jabari has just played an outstanding season for his club Esteqlal Tehran, which also became champion of the local premier league.

Jabari, branded locally as 'Iran's Zidane' due to his similar playing style to that of the French team skipper, was supposed to be introduced as Iran's new shining star during the World Cup in Germany.