Brazil forward Gabriel Jesus will be sidelined for next month's World Cup qualifiers after being injured in Manchester City's Premier League match at Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Brazilian football federation (CBF) said Friday.
The CBF said in a statement that Jesus would be replaced by Hertha Berlin's Matheus Cunha for the matches against Bolivia and Peru.
Jesus will be out for at least three weeks, missing City's matches at home to Leicester City in the Premier League on Sunday plus Wednesday's League Cup fourth round tie at Burnley and the league game at Leeds United on October 3.
"The English club have contacted the Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmas to inform us of the injury to Gabriel Jesus, which was detected after the match against Wolverhampton," it said.
Brazil are due to host Bolivia in Sao Paulo on Oct. 9 and visit Peru in Lima four days later as the 2022 World Cup qualifiers get under way in South America.
However, the global players' union FIFPRO has expressed concern that the matches are being played in one of the regions most badly affected by COVID-19.
The problem is further complicated because many South American players will have to travel from Europe, North America and Asia and could also face quarantine on returning to their clubs afterwards.
Hertha Berlin humbled at home by Eintracht
Eintracht Frankfurt brought Hertha Berlin back down to earth on Friday, beating them 3-1 at the Olympic Stadium to claim their first Bundesliga win of the season.
Hertha began their campaign with a 4-1 win at Werder Bremen but were outclassed in the first half as Frankfurt raced into a 2-0 lead in a meeting of two sides who finished in mid-table last season.
In front of around 4,000 fans -- the limit allowed by local authorities -- Andre Silva opened the scoring on the half hour after he was tripped by Hertha captain Dedryck Boyata in the area and he got up to convert the penalty himself.
Bas Dost increased Eintracht's lead with the simplest of goals six minutes later, the Dutchman outjumping the home defence to score with a towering header from Daichi Kamada's perfectly weighted free kick.
Hertha coach Bruno Labbadia made three halftime changes, bringing on Jhon Cordoba, Arne Maier and Deyovaisio Zeefuik, and it seemed to be working as his side took control of the match and created a flurry of chances.
However, it was Eintracht -- held 1-1 at home by Arminia Bielefeld in their opening game -- who scored again, Sebastian Rode curling a left-foot shot in off the foot of the post after he was left unmarked on the edge of the area in the 71st minute.
Hertha finally got on the scoresheet thanks to Eintracht defender Martin Hinteregger, who turned Jordan Torunarigha's cross into his own net.
Lille beat Nantes 2-0 to go top in Ligue 1
Unbeaten Lille went provisionally top of the Ligue 1 table with a comfortable 2-0 home win against Nantes thanks to an own goal and a late penalty on Friday.
Defender Nicolas Pallois deflected a Mehmet Celik strike into his own net and Burak Yilmaz converted a second-half spot kick, putting Lille on 11 points from five games.
They lead St Etienne and Stade Rennes, who meet at Geoffroy Guichard on Saturday, by one point.
Nantes, who have not beaten Lille in five years, are 14th on five points.
Lille dominated possession but Nantes were well organised in a solid 4-4-2 and kept the hosts at bay until they cracked as a result of Pallois's unfortunate deflection in the 43rd minute.
The visitors failed to move up a gear after the interval and grew more nervous towards the end, with Dennis Appiah fouling Yilmaz in the box three minutes from time.
The Turkish striker got up to coolly convert the penalty and secure Lille's third victory of the season.
After the St Etienne v Rennes opener on Saturday, Olympique de Marseille will take on Metz in the late game.
New Zealand 'disappointed' to cancel Belgium friendly
New Zealand Football have expressed their disappointment at having to cancel a friendly with world powerhouse Belgium next month, in what would have been the first fixture for the All Whites in almost a year.
NZF said the coronavirus pandemic had played a major part in their decision to cancel the Oct. 8 match in Brussels, with many of their players facing restrictions on travel and quarantine concerns before they returned to their clubs.
World governing body FIFA said clubs would not be obliged to release players in the September international window if they had to spend time in quarantine.
"As it currently stands we aren't able to get enough of our team to the game and back to their respective countries without major disruptions to their domestic seasons," NZF Chief Executive Andrew Pragnell said in a statement on Saturday.
"It would have (also) taken them out of contention for their club sides and impacted on their long-term development as players and their careers."
The All Whites have not played since last November. They had scheduled fixtures against Bahrain and Oman in March, but they were also cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
They are also scheduled to play England at Wembley on Nov. 12 but Pragnell made no mention of that fixture on Saturday other than to say they "continue to monitor the situation around future games".
