Holland international Ryan Babel will miss Euro 2008 with an ankle problem, but should be fit for Liverpool’s start of the new season, according to his national coach Marco van Basten.

The 21-year-old winger suffered torn ligaments in training on Saturday, to miss the European championships to be held in Austria and Switzerland from June 7.

"He needs five to seven weeks to recover," van Basten said of the former Ajax youngster.

"He was on the other end of the field when he turned around. He told me that he heard something snap, and others heard it too.

"He went to a hospital and there it became clear he had torn a muscle."