Van Nistelrooy out for a month

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Van Nistelrooy out for a month

Alex Ferguson's plans for the new season were thrown into turmoil with the news that Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy will miss the next month because of a hernia.

The 28-year-old Dutch striker, United's top scorer last season, will undergo surgery next week in a bid to cure the problem.

He played for his country at Euro 2004, scoring four goals, but was banned for two international matches by UEFA for insulting the referee after the Netherlands lost 2-1 to hosts Portugal in the semi-final.

Van Nistelrooy has only played 45 minutes of the pre-season campaign so far and his injury means that as well as missing the key opening weekend trip to Chelsea, he will also skip the crucial Champions League double-header with Dinamo Bucharest next week.

Meanwhile, United found themselves 300,000 pounds (550,000 dollars) out of pocket on Thursday when they refunded all 15,000 supporters who bought tickets for the abandoned friendly encounter with Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds.

The Old Trafford game was cancelled due to a series of electrical storms which swept across northern England.

Boca Juniors' earlier encounter with PSV in the four-team tournament had already been abandoned with 12 minutes remaining as lightning bolts illuminated the stadium.

"In all my career, I can never remember a game being called off for thunder and lightning," said Ferguson.

"But while I feel particularly sorry for the Urawa players who have travelled 14 hours to get here, I think the referee made the right decision."