Injured Villa ruled out of Spain's game against Liechtenstein

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Bengaluru, September 4: Spain's record goalscorer David Villa's shock recall to the national team has been cut short by a injury, with the forward leaving the squad before they face Liechtenstein in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.

The 35-year-old, who has been out of action for three years, was surprisingly recalled for the World Cup qualifiers against Italy and Liechtenstein.

He featured as a substitute in the 3-0 win over Italy on Saturday after a three-year absence from the team, before suffering an injury in training.

It was his 98th cap for the national team.

"Having monitored the strain suffered by David Villa in this morning's training session, it was decided that the player would leave the squad and not travel to Liechtenstein," the Spanish football federation said.

The Spanish Football Federation announced the decision on their Twitter handle.

The former Barcelona forward has scored 59 times for his country, winning Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup, but had not featured for Spain since they were dumped out of the 2014 World Cup in the group stages.

Villa has scored 19 goals in MLS for New York City FC this season.