Spain defender Carles Puyol thinks it will be 'impossible' for him to recover from knee surgery in time to play in Euro 2012.
Defender unlikely to be fit in time to make tournament
Spain defender Carles Puyol thinks it will be 'impossible' for him to recover from knee surgery in time to play in Euro 2012.
Puyol is set to undergo arthroscopic surgery at the weekend after feeling discomfort in his knee during Barcelona's 4-0 victory over Espanyol last Saturday.
The recovery time is expected to be six weeks, which would definitely rule Puyol out of Spain's group matches though he could conceivably be fit in time for the knock-out stages at the end of June.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has yet to make a decision regarding the inclusion of the 34-year-old, who was part of the side that won Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.
Del Bosque will announce his provisional squad for the tournament on 15th May before naming a trimmed down 23-man party on 27th May.
However, it appears Puyol has made the decision for him, admitting he is highly unlikely to be fit enough to justify a place in the squad.
Impossible
When asked whether he wanted to go to Euro 2012 the Barca captain said: "I would love to but it looks very difficult. I have to wait and see what the doctors find, but I think that it's impossible.
"There will be players in better condition than me to play.
"Those who are best are the ones who have to go. It would be unfair on the other players. In Spain there are good centre-backs and we don't have to worry about anything.
"My plan right now is only to undergo the operation and recover as soon as possible. I'm sure that things are going to turn out well and very soon I will be back playing again.
"I don't know if it was my last European Championship but I do know that I want to retire on the pitch and not on the operating table.
"I'm only thinking about recovering and returning to 100%. If then I can return to play with the national team I would love to reach that number (100 caps)."
