{"id":737,"date":"2026-03-30T20:25:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=737"},"modified":"2026-03-30T20:25:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:25:19","slug":"arsenal-suffer-another-injury-scare-as-45m-star-withdraws-from-international-squad-football-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=737","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal suffer another injury scare as \u00a345m star withdraws from international squad | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\t\t\"Arsenal\t<\/div>
Arsenal defender Piero Hincapie is heading back to London early (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Piero Hincapie is the latest Arsenal star to return early from international duty, leaving the Ecuador squad after medical tests.<\/p>\n

The defender started Ecuador\u2019s friendly against Morocco on Friday, playing 72 minutes before being replaced during the match in Madrid.<\/p>\n

It has since been confirmed that he, along with his international teammate Denil Castillo of FC Midtjylland, underwent tests and have withdrawn from the squad ahead of Ecuador\u2019s next fixture against Netherlands on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The nature of Hincapie\u2019s injury was not disclosed, but he will immediately return to Arsenal where he will begin his recovery.<\/p>\n

A statement from the Ecuadorian Football Federation read: \u2018The Ecuadorian Football Federation reports that players Piero Hincapie and Denil Castillo underwent medical and imaging tests and, based on the evaluation, both have been withdrawn from the squad.<\/p>\n

\u2018The results were immediately sent to their clubs, where they will begin their respective recovery processes.<\/p>\n

\u2018The national team\u2019s medical staff will monitor their progress.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Morocco\t<\/div>
Hincapie started the match at Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Friday (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 24-year-old has been a regular in Mikel Arteta\u2019s first team this season, making 21 Premier League appearances and 31 in all competitions, scoring one goal.<\/p>\n

With a busy schedule to come over the rest of the season in the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, Arteta will be keen to have the Ecuadorian back fit as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Hincapie\u2019s early return to London is the latest headache on a stressful international break for the Gunners in terms of their players\u2019 fitness.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"England\t<\/div>
Noni Madueke\u2019s World Cup hopes are in doubt (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Noni Madueke was substituted in the first half of England\u2019s draw with Uruguay at Wembley, with concern over the severity of the knee injury he has suffered.<\/p>\n

Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka have also left the England camp and return to Arsenal \u2018for medical assessment,\u2019 so will not feature against Japan on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Speaking of Madueke\u2019s injury, England boss Thomas Tuchel said: \u2018I\u2019m worried, of course, because I think he was a difference-maker today.<\/p>\n

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\u2018He started well, he was full of energy, he was ready to go.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018And I think against a team like Uruguay, who relies on one-against-ones, to isolate them there and to go in one-against-ones from every minute out there, the spaces open up and he could have been a key player for us, which he is.<\/p>\n

\u2018Very sad and upset and hopefully it\u2019s not a big injury.\u2019<\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Tottenham manager makes bold Arsenal claim after WSL derby defeat<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Owen Hargreaves urges Arsenal to sign former Real Madrid star ahead of Chelsea<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Steven Gerrard agrees Liverpool should sign \u2018box office\u2019 Arsenal transfer target<\/span><\/p>\n

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Arsenal defender Piero Hincapie is heading back to London early (Picture: Getty Images) Piero Hincapie is the latest Arsenal star to return early from international duty, leaving the Ecuador squad after medical tests. The defender started Ecuador\u2019s friendly against Morocco on Friday, playing 72 minutes before being replaced during the match in Madrid. It has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}