Injury Ends Nour Mansour's Journey in the Asian Cup

The journey of Lebanese national football team defender Nour Mansour in the Asian Cup finals held in Qatar has come to an end after he sustained an injury during the match that ended in a goalless draw with the Chinese team, in the second round of group A matches. Mansour, who was chosen by Montenegrin head coach Miodrag Radulović to start against Qatar and China, felt the injury in the first quarter-hour of the match before leaving the field for his teammate Alex Melki in the 18th minute. He underwent thorough examinations the day after the match, where it was revealed, according to the team's physiotherapist Eli Matni, that he "suffered a second-degree tear in the adductor muscle of his left thigh, and it is expected to keep him off the field for 6 to 8 weeks." Thus, the injury curse has deprived Lebanon of another important player, as prior to the Asian Cup, they had already lost forwards Karim Darwish and Zain Fran due to knee injuries, and then Felix Melki was forced to leave the squad due to a muscle injury, while Jihad Ayyoub, who is training alone, remains unable to participate in matches for the same reason. The medical staff of the team assured that left-back Nassar Nassar will be ready to play after missing the last match against China as a precaution after feeling discomfort in his left thigh, as well as midfielder Walid Shour, who started in the first match and participated in the final minutes of the second match. To optimally prepare them for the crucial match against Tajikistan next Monday (at 17:00 Beirut time), both the technical and medical staff are closely monitoring the players' physical condition, and some of them underwent a recovery session at the renowned Aspetar Hospital, which specializes in sports medicine, using the latest technologies available there.