Doctors at a Beijing hospital are fighting to save the sight in Guinea international Ousmane Bangoura's left eye on Monday after he was caught by a boot in the face in a Chinese Super League match.

The 26-year-old Shenyang Jinde midfielder suffered a ruptured eyeball after being caught in the face by Qingdao Zhongneng's Lu Gang on Friday, according to a report on the club's Web site.

Bangoura joined Shenyang from Belgium's Charleroi in April after playing a leading role in Guinea's march to the quarter-finals of the African Nations Cup earlier this year.

A spokesman for the club told Reuters on Monday Bangoura had had an operation in Shenyang and was then transferred to a hospital in Beijing, although he could not confirm which one.

"Every player is my son and our team is a big family," said Shenyang's Dutch coach Martin Koopman. "We are really sad to see a member of our family so terribly hurt."

The match ended in a 2-2 draw. Lu received a yellow card for the incident.

(China Daily July 11, 2006)