MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Brazil forward Estevao’s World Cup hopes are in doubt after it was confirmed Friday he will miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury.
It is not clear if the Chelsea player will recover in time for the tournament that runs through June and July.
Chelsea interim coach Calum McFarlane did not give a timeframe for Estevao’s recovery after he sustained the injury in the first half of last week’s game against Manchester United.
“Estevao unfortunately won’t play for us this season because he is going to be out for a little bit of time. That’s really unfortunate, especially for someone so young and so talented,” McFarlane said. “I am sure he is very hopeful he can make the World Cup, but I don’t know on that.”
The 19-year-old Estevao was taken off after 16 minutes of the 1-0 loss at Stamford Bridge and missed Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton.
Estevao joined Chelsea from Palmeiras last year and has scored eight goals this season. He was expected to be part of Carlo Ancelotti’s squad for the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico after scoring five times in his last six internationals.
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