Van der Vaart injury blow for Hamburg

Hamburg, Germany – Hamburg midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart is expected to be out of action until January because of a torn muscle.

The Dutch international suffered the injury in Hamburg's 2-0 defeat to Dusseldorf on Friday, and with Germany's winter break beginning after Hamburg's Dec. 15 match at Bayer Leverkusen, Van der Vaart is unlikely to return before the second half of the campaign.

Van der Vaart joined Hamburg from English side Tottenham over the summer and he has gone on to appear in 11 Bundesliga games this season, scoring one goal and assisting on four more.