Tal Burstein’s Achilles tendon injury could not have come at a worse time for the Macacbi Tel Aviv and Israel national team star.

Not only will the injury keep him out of Israel’s 2007 EuroBasket qualifying round games, it is threatening to hamper his ambitions of furthering his career, possibly outside of Israel.

"It felt like someone shot me in the leg," Burstein told Ma’ariv after the injury which is expected to keep him sidelined until at least the start of next season.

"I made a fake, and tried to pass my player but when my foot left the ground I felt like someone shot my leg. At first I thought someone bumped into me, but very quickly I realized that I tore my Achilles tendon."

Burstein’s sustained the injury during Maccabi’s last game of the season, the championship clincher against Hapoel Jerusalem.

It may well have been his last game for the Israeli champions.

Burstein is currently a free agent and boasts a resume which will draw interest from Europe’s top clubs.

The 198cm guard has played a major part in Maccabi’s European dominance in recent seasons, including a SuproLeague title in 2001 and two Euroleague titles in the past three seasons.

Burstein has also sparked a major resurgence in Israel’s national team fortunes.

In 2000, he led the Israeli U20 to a first ever European Championship final appearance. Since becoming a senior national team regular, Israel has qualified for the latter stages of EuroBasket twice. At EuroBasket 2003, it was Burstein's buzzer beater against Slovenia which saw Israel make it to the quarter-finals for the first time in 20 years.

At 26 years old, Burstein is nearing the peak of his career and there are already rumours that Barcelona, Tau Vitoria and Girona are looking to poach the Maccabi star away from Israel.

However, Burstein’s injury has left a big question mark over where he will play next season.

"I didn't feel pain after the first second. I just put my hands on my head and already in those seconds I tried to figure out what's going to happen with me now," said Burstein.