Jankulovski injures ligament again

Czech Republic defender Marek Jankulovski's hopes of a new career with homeland side Banik Ostrava have been interrupted after he ruptured a ligament in Saturday's game, his club said today. "A magnetic resonance check has shown that he tore the anterior ligament in his left knee again, after only six minutes on the pitch in his first Czech top-flight game," said Michal Otava, a spokesman for Banik. The 34-year-old was sidelined with the same injury for seven months this year before returning to Banik on 10 October after eleven years spent in Italy at Napoli, Udinese and AC Milan. Otava said Jankulovski, who has scored 11 goals in 78 games for Czech Republic, would probably undergo surgery in November, and that speculation about the end of his career was "premature".