Costa sidelined as Boca aims to stay alive in Club World Cup

NASHVILLE, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Boca Juniors defender Ayrton Costa is set to miss his team's FIFA Club World Cup Group C clash with Auckland City on Tuesday due to a calf muscle tear.

The 25-year-old center-back sustained the injury in Boca's 2-1 loss to Bayern Munich on Friday and subsequent scans confirmed he would be unavailable for the clash in Nashville, according to widespread media reports in Argentina.

Boca must win the match to have any chance of advancing to the last 16.

The Buenos Aires outfit will also be without Ander Herrera and Nicolas Figal, who were both handed four-game bans after receiving red cards in Boca's 2-2 draw with Benfica in their opening game.

Costa is likely to be replaced in the starting lineup by Marco Pellegrino, who joined the club from Huracan earlier this month. ■