Spain rule out Del Horno

Spain defender Asier Del Horno will miss the World Cup finals with an injured ankle.

The Chelsea left back suffered an injury to his Achilles tendon in his left ankle while preparing with La Furia Roja last week.

Fresh tests in Valencia on Tuesday have revealed the severity of the former Athletic Bilbao player's ankle injury, prompting manager Luis Aragones and his staff to bring in a replacement before Spain start their Group H campaign against Ukraine on June 14.

With Del Horno set to miss out on football's showpiece event, reports in Spain suggest Aragones will call up Getafe's Mariano Pernia to his 23-man squad.

Deportivo La Coruna's Joan Capdevila has also been mentioned as a possible replacement for Del Horno.

Meanwhile, Jose Antonio Reyes thinks Spain will miss the goalscoring exploits of Fernando Morientes.

Morientes missed out on Aragones's World Cup squad after failing to hold down a regular first-team place with former club Liverpool, with the former Real Madrid striker moving back to La Liga with Valencia for next season.

Following Spain's goalless draw with Russia on Saturday, Arsenal attacker Reyes says the absence of Morientes is a blow for his side.

"We miss him because he does well for us up front and scores lots of goals," Reyes said.

Spain have two more warm-up matches against African Cup of Nations holders Egypt and fellow World Cup finalists Croatia before their first match against Ukraine.

Tunisia and Saudi Arabia are Spain's other opponents in Group H.