Injured Villa to miss Spain's World Cup qualifiers

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VALENCIA, Spain (AP) -- David Villa will be sidelined for three weeks with a leg injury and miss Spain's two remaining World Cup qualifying matches.

The Valencia striker was replaced in the 58th minute of Sunday's 1-0 win at Racing Santander after tearing a muscle in his right leg, the Spanish league club said Monday.

Villa, who is Spain's second all-time leading scorer with 33 goals from 52 appearances, will miss matches Saturday against Armenia and Oct. 14 against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Villa will also miss Valencia's Oct. 18 match against league leader Barcelona.

Spain, the European champion, has already qualified for the 2010 finals in South Africa with a so far unbeaten record in Group 5.

Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo is favorite to receive a call-up for Spain, with Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente -- who featured at this summer's Confederations Cup -- sustaining a head injury on Sunday.

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