Double blow for Amri: Forward out for up to 9 months with a knee injury, Persiba future in doubt

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SINGAPORE - He broke into a smile at the SAF Yacht Club on Saturday when former team-mate Isa Halim and his bride Nur Faezah made a grand entrance on board a yacht to kick off their wedding dinner.

But, when Khairul Amri stepped away from the crowd, there was no hiding the pain he was in.

Last month, Singapore football coach Radojko Avramovic described the attacking star as a potential matchwinner in the Lions' second round pre-World Cup double-header, probably against arch-rivals Malaysia (July 23 and 28), who face Taiwan in the first round.

Amri will not play any role in the two games, though, after yet another injury setback. So serious is the injury to his left knee he faces between six and nine months on the sidelines.

Amri hurt himself when he inadvertently stepped into a pothole when playing for his Indonesian club Persiba Balikpapan in a match against Pelita Jaya on June 12 at Singa Perbangsa Stadium in Karawang.

Scans here showed the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee had completely snapped.

"Images of my family flashed inside my head when I fell. I knew it was bad," Amri told MediaCorp. "When the doctor in Singapore told me later we had a big problem, my heart just sank. We couldn't even see any bit of the ACL in the scans."

The footballer suffered broken bones in both his left and right foot in 2008 and 2009 and missed chunks of the season then.

He faces another long spell out, and Amri now also has to deal with possibly an even bigger problem.

"My contract with Persiba ends in October and I don't know if they'll keep me while I recover. I have my family to think about and this contract issue is really weighing on my mind," said Amri, who got married in 2009.

"It's a helpless feeling, heartbreaking, but what can I do? It's God's will."

The former Tampines Rovers forward will go to the National University Hospital today to arrange for reconstructive surgery to be done this week so that he can start the recovery process.

Amri's agent, Abdul Halim from Offside Sports Management, believes the situation is not as dire.

"The club have informed me they are very much interested in retaining Amri, but it all depends on his recovery and how long it takes," said Halim.

"Persiba will be paying for Amri's surgery and we'll be speaking with them after the doctor assesses him again."

Said Amri: "All I can do now is get the surgery done and focus on recovery. I'll just take the opportunity to spend more time with my family. It could be good considering Hari Raya is just around the corner."