Juninho out of Vasco da Gama lineup

Rio de Janeiro, March 31 (IANS) Vasco da Gama's veteran midfielder and club idol Juninho Pernambucano declared that he will miss his team's up-coming match in the 2012 Libertadores Cup.

The player previously scheduled a dental surgery that will prohibit him from travelling to Peru to face Alianza Lima April 3. The procedure will take two days, removing an implant that has caused a painful inflammation in his gums.

Juninho claimed that the cause of the pain was due to a hard foul he received against Uruguay's Nacional, which chipped and broke his implant during the 1-2 Libertadores loss Feb 8, Xinhua reported.

It will be the second consecutive Libertadores match that Juninho misses. On March 21, he sat out during his team's 2-0 Libertadores win against Paraguay's Libertad.

However, Juninho is guaranteed to play in Vasco da Gama's match in the second half of the Rio de Janeiro state championship, the Rio Cup, March 31 against Macae. The team needs to at least tie or win the match in order to remain in contention for the playoffs of the Rio Cup with only two rounds remaining.