Arsenal's Eduardo moved to London hospital

Arsenal striker Eduardo de Silva has been transferred to an unnamed London hospital to undergo further treatment on the broken leg he suffered in yesterday's Premier League match at Birmingham City. Eduardo, the Croatia striker, last night underwent surgery at Birmingham's Selly Oak Hospital on the double compound fracture of his left leg inflicted by a tackle by Martin Taylor in the opening minutes of the 2-2 draw at St Andrews. Immediate reaction to the injury suggested the Brazilian-born Eduardo's career was in jeopardy. At the very least he will miss the rest of the season and this summer's European Championships. Taylor was sent-off for the third-minute challenge which saw play held up for seven minutes while medics treated the striker. The incident was deemed too disturbing for viewers by Sky television so that replays were not shown during live coverage of the match. Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger was so incensed by the tackle that he called for Birmingham defender Taylor to be banned from football for life, although he later retracted his initial thoughts. Wenger said: "On reflection, I feel that my comments about Martin Taylor were excessive. I said what I did immediately after the game in the heat of the moment. It was a highly emotional afternoon and we were all shocked by the injury to Eduardo." The Arsenal coach's original allegations, however, were such that even Birmingham felt the need to issue their own statement to defend their own player. "The club are saddened that such a fantastic game of football has been marred by a serious injury sustained to Arsenal player Eduardo. But Martin Taylor is adamant there was no malicious intent," the statement read. Croatia, meanwhile, are coming to terms with losing their star player for the upcoming Euro 2008 finals. Eduardo played a key role in ensuring Croatia's progress to this summer's championships and finished the qualifying campaign with 10 goals in 12 matches - the second-best goalscorer of the competition behind Northern Ireland's David Healy. The injury has come as a huge blow to coach Slaven Bilic. However, the former West Ham player has said there are more important matters to be concerned with. He said: "This is horrible. The fact he won't play at the Euros is less important - most important is that he recovers as soon as possible and resumes his footballing career. "He is a great guy. Of course I will visit him very soon, trying to cheer him up." Croatia captain Niko Kovac, meanwhile, said he did not want to contemplate how long Eduardo could be out for, but had no sympathy for Taylor. "I can't believe this happened. Also, I can't believe such brutality still exists in football." Croatian team doctor Zoran Bahtijarevic said: "Obviously, Eduardo won't be able to join us at the Euros, but that's least important now. As a great friend and sportsman, he will be missed until his return." Arsenal are expected to make a statement tomorrow on their player's condition but today expressed their gratitude to the staff at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham.