Robin van Persie was carried off last night after suffering an agonising ankle injury against Italy.

The Arsenal striker, leading the Holland attack in Pescara, was lining up a powerful left-footed shot when Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini made a block tackle that left Van Persie writhing in agony and beating the turf with his palm.

Holland boss Bert van Marwijk said: “The first diagnosis is that Robin has a bad ankle injury. The seriousness of it we won’t know until we have the full X-rays in hospital.

“It’s terrible for Robin and is not good for Holland or his club.”

Van Persie, 26, has been in magnificent form for the Gunners and has scored eight goals in 11 outings this season.

Boss Arsene Wenger believed Van Persie was finally fulfilling his rich potential.

And Wenger will not be the only club manager cursing international friendlies.

The destiny of the Premier League title may well be decided by players who are sidelined after this weekend’s duties overseas. A lengthy lay-off to Van Persie will be a body-blow to Arsenal’s emerging team but Chelsea are also cursing England’s trip to Qatar to play Brazil.

Frank Lampard returned home on Thursday with a thigh injury, while Chelsea and England skipper John Terry picked up an Achilles strain in training and was a spectator at last night’s 1-0 defeat by  Brazil.

Manchester United defender Jonny Evans was hurt in Northern Ireland’s 1-0 friendly defeat against Serbia. He was withdrawn at half-time with a calf injury.

Nigel Worthington, the Northern Ireland boss, said: “It’s only fair to Jonny and United that we took him off. We’ve put him in ice and we’ll know more in the next 24 hours.”