Arsenal have confirmed that defender Rafaelle will be on the sidelines for “several weeks” after fracturing her metatarsal in the 1-0 Champions League qualifier victory over Ajax on Wednesday night.
The Brazilian will not join up with her country for friendlies against Italy and Norway next week. The player was forced off in the closing stages of the North London derby with a whack on the foot.
In a very physical game in Amsterdam, Rafaelle again felt a heavy challenge and tried to play on before hobbling off eight minutes before half-time.
An Arsenal statement read, “We can confirm that Rafaelle Souza has sustained a fracture to a metatarsal bone in her foot. Rafaelle will not travel to join up with the Brazilian national team as she begins the rehabilitation process here at Arsenal.
“We expect Rafaelle to be on the sidelines for several weeks while she recovers.”
It is another frustration for the January signing, who missed the final ten games of last season with a thigh injury. Lotte Wubben-Moy will step into the centre-half berth alongside Leah Williamson in her absence.
Wubben-Moy was recently omitted from the England squad owing to a lack of playing time but will now get her chance. Meanwhile, Beth Mead is ok after going off following a nasty clash of heads on Wednesday.
Mead travelled home with the team and should be ok to join up with England on Sunday ahead of their big-ticket friendly with USA at a sold-out Wembley on Friday evening.
Just sad! Ridiculous how the referee allowed Ajax so much leeway.
Can now only wish Rafaelle comes back stronger and sooner. Such a big loss for us.
Rafa is a big loss but we have a very able deputy in Lotte.
Arsenal should officially protest to UEFA about the standard of refereeing in the Ajax game along with the unacceptable level of physicality exhibited by the Dutch opposition on Wednesday night.
Very bad news for us, we were looking great with her.
Best wishes to her for a speedy recovery!
I hope we have enough depth in center back position to deal with potential injuries and suspensions
This can be a potential career ending injury. Here’s hoping she can come back from this stronger.
As long as it’s not her big toe, it’s more of a nuisance than anything. But the timing is terrible for us and I am still livid about the thuggish behaviour of some of the Ajax players.
Get well soon, Rafa.
Wonderful player. She is great to watch, so athletic.
A wonderful player indeed.
And “thuggish” is a fair word to use about Ajax. They have certainly put Rafa out of action for a while.
Relieved to hear that Beth is okay. I swear, that woman is made of titanium! 😂
If I remember correctly, the run of games that cost the women the league last season involved the absences of both Rafaelle and Leah Williamson. As long as one of them is fit, we can probably cope with opponents with quick attackers. Beth Mead would be an awful loss if she got injured. There’s something talismanic about her!
She is now! Ironically the best thing that ever happened to her was not being selected for the Olympics. Her head is in a different space and she is now the player she always could have been. The unfortunate side to this is our opposing teams all know what a threat she is and try and kick or head butt her off the pitch!
Let’s stay optimistic – don’t forget that with the retention of every single player we wanted to stay, the squad is absolutely top quality / class.
This is annoyingly sad! I hope she comes back stronger