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Manolo Gabbiadini scored late in Italy's 2-2 draw against Romania on Tuesday -- but that, sadly, was not the last thing he did in that match. In the closing minutes, Gabbiadini was forced out of the match by an ankle injury, putting Italy down to 10 men and ultimately allowing Romania to find their stoppage-time equalizer.
There were initial fears of a more serious injury, but the news isn't as bad as it could be -- Gabbiadini has been diagnosed with a moderately sprained ankle and what Napoli are calling "blunt trauma" to one of the bones in his ankle, which sounds like fancy speak for a bone bruise.
For his part, Gabbiadini seems pretty relaxed about the whole thing:
Raga, ho una distorsione alla caviglia. Niente di grave ma per una settimana riposo e terapie. Poi vedremo. Grazie a tutti per i messaggi!
— Manolo Gabbiadini (@Mgabbia23) November 18, 2015
"Guys, I sprained my ankle. It's nothing serious, a week of rest and treatment, then we'll see. Thanks for all your messages!"
Despite his carefree nature, though, Gabbiadini is likely to be out two to three weeks. It's not the worst timing for Napoli to lose him, but it definitely hurts a bit, especially with Gonzalo Higuain also a bit tender from a foot injury picked up with Argentina. If both can't go, we can't even see a return to the 4-3-1-2 with a Dries Mertens-Jose Callejon front line, because Mertens is out for a spell with an international break injury of his own.
What a mess. When was the last time Napoli got this hard-hit by a single international break?