MILAN, Italy (AP) - AC Milan's combative midfielder Gennaro Gattuso underwent knee surgery on Monday and is expected to be out for six months, the club said in a statement on its Web site.

The 30-year-old, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, was operated on in Antwerp, Belgium, the club said.

The injury occurred Dec. 7 during Milan's 1-0 win over Catania. Gattuso played the entire match and the extent of the problem only became evident afterwards.

The injury means Gattuso will miss Italy's World Cup qualifiers against Montenegro on March 28 and Ireland on April 1.

Milan lost 4-2 at Juventus on Sunday night and slipped nine points behind Serie A leader Inter Milan.

Well we can certainly kiss this season goodbye, then! UEFA Cup, maybe, but then again that's too much to ask, I suppose? It was fun for a few weeks. See you next year!

well we signed Flamini for a reason in the offseason - Pirlo and Gattuso are both old and wont be around forever. Midfield is VERY taxing on the body, not like defense where you can be moved center once the legs slow down.

Well we did sign Flamini but with him it's 2 DMF's and a former player... considering Ancelotti loves fielding 2 of them we'll probably see much of Emerson which is bad. I hope we won't have more injuries in that area.

i will miss the beast