Seitaridis set for surgery

Club Atlético de Madrid defender Giourkas Seitaridis will undergo surgery on Monday on his troublesome achilles tendon, ruling him out for up to six weeks.

Withdrawal
The 26-year-old, who has been suffering with the problem for a number of weeks, was substituted at half-time during the goalless draw at UD Almería on 11 November. However Seitaridis still joined up with the Greece squad ahead of their UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying double-header with Malta and Hungary before returning to Atlético early to resolve the issue.

UEFA Cup absence
The UEFA EURO 2004™ winner will travel to Finland for the operation. Seitaridis joined the Primera División outift in 2006/07 from FC Dinamo Moskva and has featured in ten league games and two UEFA Cup qualifying matches this season. He is likely to miss the remainder of Atlético's UEFA Cup group stage fixtures. Second in Group B after drawing their opening game at FC Lokomotiv Moskva, they face Aberdeen FC at home on Matchday 3.