President of Chilean tennis says it will be "very, very difficult" to beat Croatia without González

SANTIAGO.- Fernando González, the number one tennis player in Chile, has been diagnosed with a sciatic nerve injury that is causing him "great pain" and will not be traveling to Croatia to participate in a match that is part of the first world group round of the Davis Cup on the 6th, 7th and 8th of March.

The player made the announcement through a statement that was posted on his website and caused tumult among the Chilean tennis team, headed by Hans Gildemeister, which is currently training in Paris.

The president of the Chilean Tennis Federation, José Hinzpeter, stated that Gonzalez' injury, "certainly affects us, but that is just how the world of sports is sometimes".

"Every now and then, players get hurt and have to sit out. We'll have to play with who we've got: Capedeville, Massú, Ormazábal, Hans Podlipnik. We have to keep our hopes up", he declared.

With regards to likelihood of the team defeating Croatia, Hinzpeter admitted that it would be "very, very difficult". "It was already difficult with Fernando on the team because we were matched up against one of the best in the world circuit", he concluded.