Peru forward Jefferson Farfan will not play in their final group match against Australia as he remains in hospital after being knocked out in training at the weekend.
Coach Ricardo Gareca admits the team suffered a scare when the Lokomotiv Moscow striker collided with a team-mate on Saturday, with the Peruvian Football Federation confirming he had sustained a “traumatic brain injury”.
Concussion protocols mean the 33-year-old will miss Peru’s last match on Tuesday before they fly home having already been eliminated after their first two fixtures.
“He was unconscious for a couple of minutes. The player received all the medical assistance required.
“He is OK but it was a scare. He is doing well.
“Unfortunately he cannot play tomorrow but the most important thing is he is recovering and will get well.
“There are some protocols in terms of recovery of a player so that means it is mandatory for a player to remain in hospital for 72 hours until he is stabilised.
“We have to be very grateful for the immediate attention of the medical team and extremely grateful for Russia for being so well prepared for this kind of event.”
Peru forward Paolo Guerrero admits losing Farfan was a big blow.
“It was a scare when it happened,” he said.
“He is a great loss for us tomorrow. We hope to have him back very soon because he is the spark of this team so we hope for a prompt recovery.”
