Hwang In-beom was taken off in the 44th minute of Feyenoord's 2-1 win after a duel with Noah Naujoks of Excelsior. The 29-year-old midfielder was taken off in a lot of pain, making manager Robin van Persie fear the worst after he called the injury "worrisome".
After being spotted on crutches in the centre of Rotterdam on Wednesday, the South Korean FA confirmed on Thursday that tests showed ligament damage in Hwang's right ankle. Major damage was avoided, however, much to the relief of everyone involved.
"For player protection, we have decided to exclude him from the March match call-up," the KFA said in a statement. South Korea play Austria (March 28th) and Ivory Coast (March 31st) in preparation for the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
Hwang is expected to miss up to a month, but will likely return for the Republic of Korea's FIFA World Cup campaign.
The midfielder joins an already loaded list of injured Feyenoord players, following in the footsteps of Thomas Beelen, Malcolm Jeng, Shaqueel van Persie, Givairo Read, Leo Sauer, Gijs Smal, Jeremiah St. Juste, Sem Steijn, Gernot Trauner, and Tsuyoshi Watanabe ahead of Sunday's Klassieker derby against Ajax.