May 31, 2008

Liverpool and Netherlands winger Ryan Babel will miss Euro 2008 after he tore ankle ligaments in training on Saturday, the BBC reports.

The 21-year-old Liverpool star is highly regarded in Holland and was widely anticipateed to feature in Marco van Basten’s team during the tournament in Austria and Switzerland.

There’s no word how serious the injury is but Reds fans will hope Babel rapidly recovers after impressing during his first season at Anfield.

After initially struggling, the latter part of the season saw Babel firmly established as a regular in the first team. He went on to score ten goals in all competitions for the club.

The Netherlands are in Group C along with France, Italy and Romania for Euro 2008, which starts on June 7 .