US captain Reyna out 6 more weeks

MANCHESTER, England -- US national team captain Claudio Reyna has a broken ankle and will be sidelined for at least six more weeks.

The 32-year-old midfielder, expected to be a key player for the United States at next year's World Cup in Germany, is scheduled to have surgery on his right ankle in the Netherlands today.

''Luckily, the doctor is one of the leading guys in Europe and I'm happy to be seeing him and getting the problem cleared up," Reyna said. ''Within 6-8 weeks, I'll be completely back up and running and three weeks after the surgery, I should be jogging and building it up until I'm back."

Team officials said Reyna has been bothered by the injury for two months and sat out Manchester City's 1-0 loss to Chelsea Wednesday.

Reyna originally injured the ankle in a challenge during a 1-0 loss at Arsenal Oct. 22. He missed the next four games, but returned for Manchester City's 5-2 victory over Charlton Dec. 4.

He started the next three matches. A recent X-ray revealed the full extent of the injury.

''It has been really sore and it didn't feel right," Reyna said. ''I could not train through the week and I was just trying to get through games."