Bad news for Werder Bremen and their midfielder José Alex Ikeng as the 21-year-old suffered a ruptured ACL. The injury came Tuesday night during a 1-0 loss against Osnabrück for Werder's U23 team. The defensive midfielder, who was trying to make head coach Thomas Schaaf's professional squad, went down in a tackle and had to be subbed out after 58 minutes.

"That is too bad. He had really made good strides," said Thomas Schaaf about Ikeng's injury. After recovering from two torn ligaments in his right knee and a slight tear in his left knee, Ikeng was clearly shattered after the full rupture of his left knee ligament. "I cannot really believe it. The real disappointment will set in over the next few days and weeks," Ikeng said Wednesday.

The young talent in the defensive midfield is already on his way to Bad Griesbach for an operation Thursday morning. The Cameroonian-born German expects to miss six to eight months.