Road to Recovery

The list of players who have been knocked out of the World Cup due to injury continues to grow.

Portugal winger Nani is the latest star to have his dreams crushed - the Portuguese football federation confirmed Tuesday that the Manchester United star has failed to recover from a bruised left collarbone and is unfit to play in South Africa.

Nani picked up the injury in training on Friday in Lisbon before flying to South Africa. He will be replaced in the team by Benfica midfielder Ruben Amorim.

While not a crushing blow to Portugal, the loss of Nani does dent his team's chances of success in South Africa.

Nani, 23, is coming off a pretty good season for Manchester United in which he scored six goals in 34 appearances for the Red Devils.

His delicate touch make him a threat to score every time he touches the ball, his speed and acceleration allowing him to burn defenders.

More important, he was one of Portugal's best players in the qualifiers, scoring three goals in 11 games. His strong performances for his country couldn't have come at a better time, as Cristiano Ronaldo was far form his best, failing to score a single goal in the qualifiers.

In doing so, Nani established himself as a regular starter in the team's 4-3-3 formation, lining up behind striker Liedson and playing opposite Ronaldo on the wing.

Portugal is weaker without Nani, but the team does have other options, namely Atletico Madrid star Simao Sabrosa, who is a perfect fill in for the Man U star.

Simao was Portugal's top scorer in the qualifiers (with four goals), but his real strengths are his dribbling skills and speed, which he uses to great effect whenever he has the ball.