BRIEF-Soccer-Spartak's Saenko to miss season with knee injury

MOSCOW, July 17 (Reuters) - Russia striker Ivan Saenko will be out for the rest of the year with a knee injury, his club Spartak Moscow said on Friday.

"Saenko underwent surgery last night in Germany to repair a damaged knee ligament but he will need another operation in August, meaning he won't play this season," the Russian Premier League side said on their website (www.rus.spartak.com).

Saenko, 25, who joined Spartak from German club Nuremberg last August, will miss Russia's final four World Cup qualifiers, including an encounter with Group Four leaders Germany in Moscow on Oct. 10. Russia are second in the group a point behind Germany. (Reporting by Gennady Fyodorov; editing by Alison Wildey)