Grealish Set for Spell on Sidelines with Groin Injury, Could Miss England Friendlies

Football - FA Cup - Fifth Round - Luton Town v Manchester City - Kenilworth Road, Luton, Britain - February 27, 2024 Manchester City's Jack Grealish at the end of the first half after being substituted. (Reuters)
Football - FA Cup - Fifth Round - Luton Town v Manchester City - Kenilworth Road, Luton, Britain - February 27, 2024 Manchester City's Jack Grealish at the end of the first half after being substituted. (Reuters)
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Grealish Set for Spell on Sidelines with Groin Injury, Could Miss England Friendlies

Football - FA Cup - Fifth Round - Luton Town v Manchester City - Kenilworth Road, Luton, Britain - February 27, 2024 Manchester City's Jack Grealish at the end of the first half after being substituted. (Reuters)
Football - FA Cup - Fifth Round - Luton Town v Manchester City - Kenilworth Road, Luton, Britain - February 27, 2024 Manchester City's Jack Grealish at the end of the first half after being substituted. (Reuters)

Manchester City midfielder Jack Grealish likely will be sidelined for multiple weeks because of a groin injury that also threatens to keep him out of England’s upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.

Grealish was substituted before halftime of City's 6-2 rout of Luton on Tuesday in the FA Cup with a recurrence of the injury that forced him to miss the previous three games.

"When he will come back I don't know," City manager Pep Guardiola said Friday.

The 28-year-old Grealish is set to miss some key games. City hosts Manchester United on Sunday, then Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday before a heavyweight Premier League showdown against Liverpool at Anfield on March 10. That's followed by City's FA Cup quarterfinal against Newcastle.

Grealish won't be back before the international break, Guardiola said.

England hosts Brazil on March 23 and Belgium three days later, both at Wembley Stadium, to help England coach Gareth Southgate evaluate his squad ahead of this summer's European Championship.

"I need to speak with Gareth but I think he will not be fit," Guardiola said. "He has to recover well. He had a setback, he has to recover well to use him as much as possible."



‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
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‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.