David out of cup game with ankle injury
Tuesday, January 6, 2004

David Beckham has been ruled out of Real Madrid's Copa del Rey third-round match against Eibar through injury, the club said Tuesday.

Beckham was left off Madrid's 17-player squad for Wednesday's first-leg visit to the second division Basque team after gashing his right ankle during Saturday's league win over Murcia.

Teammate Zinedine Zidane will also be absent with flu, although neither may have played anyway as Madrid coach Carlos Queiroz has rested such other stars as Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo and Raul Gonzalez.

Both Beckham and Zidane are expected to be available for Madrid's league game against struggling Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Madrid, which leads the standings after 18 rounds, has not won the Copa del Rey since 1993.

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