Al Ain loses another foreign player to injury

Al Ain is having a tough time keeping its foreign players healthy.

The only club in the league without the full complement of three foreigners may be about to lose another.

Ibrahima Keita, a midfielder from Ivory Coast, is out at least three weeks with a knee injury, a source at the club told The National today.

Keita could be out more than two months, the source said, pending a final assessment of the injury by an expert.

Keita had joined the club last week from the Kuwaiti club Al Qadisiya as a replacement for Pro League veteran Soufiane Alloudi, a Moroccan striker who also suffered a knee injury, during a friendly with Al Shabab of Oman the week before.

Keita had been in Al Ain only two days before he was sent directly into the lineup in the Pro League opener against Dubai.

That leaves Al Ain with only one foreigner, albeit an important one in the Argentine striker Jose Sand, who led the league with 23 goals last year and scored two on Saturday in Al Ain's 4-3 victory.

Al Ain travels to play Al Nasr on Friday night.