World Cup 2010 - Ferdinand out of World Cup

Fri, 04 Jun 17:51:00 2010

England captain Rio Ferdinand will miss the World Cup after a knee ligament injury suffered in training ruled him out for four to six weeks, the FA confirmed.

- 0

The injury-prone 31-year-old central defender went into a tackle with Emile Heskey and fell badly in the final minutes of their first training session in South Africa.

Tottenham's Michael Dawson will fly to South Africa as a replacement for the Manchester United defender, while vice captain Steven Gerrard will lead the team in their first match against the US on June 12.

"Further to a scan arranged by the England medical staff immediately after training on Friday afternoon, Rio has been ruled out for four to six weeks and will therefore unfortunately miss the World Cup," the FA said in a statement.

"Tottenham Hotspur's Michael Dawson has been contacted today and will fly to South Africa on Friday evening.

"Steven Gerrard will lead the England team as captain in the tournament."

England Manager Fabio Capello said: "It is obviously bad news and everyone with the squad is very disappointed and sorry for Rio.

"It was an accidental injury in training, but had nothing to do with the pitch."

The Italian also confirmed that goalkeeper David James had missed training due to a nagging knee injury aggravated by the long overnight flight from London.

However, there seemed to be a promising outlook for midfielder Gareth Barry, who was recovering from an injured right ankle.

"He is getting better and better every day. He started training with the team. He will go to the gym this afternoon with the physiotherapist and always train with the team in the mornings," said Capello before adding that he was unsure if Barry would feature in England's opening match against the US.

"He will not do everything just yet and we have to be a little careful with him just at this moment."

The England manager added that he was thrilled to be in South Africa and was revelling in finally having a serious game to prepare for. "It is seven months now since our last qualifying game," he added.

Ferdinand took over as England captain after fellow defender John Terry was stripped of the job in February because of an off-pitch scandal involving his private life but he has not played regularly for Manchester United this season due to a succession of injuries.

He played for England in the 2002 and 2006 World Cup finals and has made a total of 78 appearances, scoring three goals.

Eurosport / Reuters

Comment 502 - 521 of 521

Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

  1. If England really want to win, they need a driving­ force to lead them... They need Wayne Rooney to be­ captain, or maybe Carragher or Lampard, but they need­ some one with some balls to get them driven into­ winning.....I just don't see that with Gerrard, has­ his voice even broken yet??
    :P
    One love, England vs­ Argentina 2012 World Cup finalists! :-)))

    From Munyaradzi, on Thu 10 Jun 3:43

  2. Hmm...Steven Gerrard...serial cheat, vicious thug &­ liar...England Captain...says it all. RIP Bobby­ Moore.

    From plonkmorton, on Sun 6 Jun 8:58

  3. Can't wait to see Spain fall flat on ther face at­ this World cup. Roll on next Friday. Or Thursay, if you­ are to believe Sky Sports. dimwits.

    From burnjim95, on Sun 6 Jun 5:39

  4. Donney and Leeroy are definitely not the same person.

    From burnjim95, on Sun 6 Jun 5:36

  5. hahahahaha...hope he cant recover next season in­ bpl...suck man utd
    n also the black metal man..ur­ english is so bad..need learn more..

    From SamadJ, on Sun 6 Jun 4:36

  6. gutted for rio, but now gerrard is captain i really do­ think we will go further in the competion

    From kevin, on Sun 6 Jun 3:44

  7. If Rio is going to stay in South Africa with the team­ perhaps he could get out with supporters at the games,­ share the emotion and show us what a leader he could­ be? Maybe he might not like the language and he'll­ need someone to hold his crutch(es), but let's see­ if he gets just how important it is that we have a­ passionate and honest English performance every game.

    From GEOFF, on Sun 6 Jun 3:37

  8. ferdinand will be no loss, after watching the­ horrorshow that he and ashley cole put on against­ ukraine he is lucky to even get a game for england­ nevermind captain. this guy was past it three years­ ago.

    From iluvrenandstimpey, on Sun 6 Jun 0:53

  9. It was always going to happen just look at his season­ and I will bet that in barrys first game he will do a­ hamstring. What happened to c,rapellos promis not to­ take unfit players and to take in form players. There­ are too many in this team that have not played a full­ part for thier club team, Heskey Wright Phillips, Defoe­ etc.
    Hope I am wrong but I am the least optomistic than­ ever before too many old tired failed before players.

    From DAVID, on Sun 6 Jun 0:53

  10. ferdinand sud never have bin picked he messed up­ against both mexico and japan hes so slow brain the­ snail from magic roundabout wud beat him over 100­ metres, as 4 being made captain ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha­ ha wot a joke, or perhaps rio heard there were drug­ tests b4 and after games.

    From blue, on Sun 6 Jun 0:15

  11. Surprise, surprise I just heard it was Heskey that­ injured Rio. That useluss fat @#$% is only good for­ getting our playerz injured and when and if he does­ play he'll just fall over and give the ball away,­ @#$% was Cappello thinking of taking him?

    From Adam, on Sat 5 Jun 23:41

  12. great news..Ferdinand is saved by this injury..he­ won't make a fool of himself in front of a whole­ worldby letting attackers beat him easily..he­ didn't deserve be there..he's a shi*t*ty­ player and had a shi*t*ty season..its just a shame hi­ didn't took Heskey with him..what Capello sees in­ them is beyond my understanding..

    From juraj, on Sat 5 Jun 23:21

  13. lets be honest guys no englishman wants to be manager­ of this team because they are old and past it. so they­ bring in an italian who plays negative football. we­ beat japan and didn,t score a goal ourselves what does­ that tell you?. we have no passion .no commitment. and­ ultimatley no chance of winning this world cup. and we­ wont even beat usa.

    From lloyd, on Sat 5 Jun 23:15

  14. this could be a blessing in disguise. i am not saying­ we won't miss Ferdinand as i think he is a very­ important player for us, but he has been very injury­ prone of late and has hardly played any games for us,­ while ledley king is in the form of his life and is­ probably the most talented of defenders out of him­ ferdinand and terry
    but saying that i'm absolutely­ gutted for rio

    From Michael, on Sat 5 Jun 23:15

  15. BRING BACK ALL THE GAY PLAYERS ENGLAND PLAY LIKE THEM­ ANYWAY S##T

    From Graham, on Sat 5 Jun 23:15

  16. Its likely to be the best and only contribution that­ Heskey will make in the W.C.!

    From mike m, on Sat 5 Jun 23:13

  17. Wonderful news that Ferdinand is going home, I just­ wish he was taking Heskey and Shaun W-P with him!!

    From Rick, on Sat 5 Jun 23:03

  18. what a fortuitous injury! solves two problems-now a­ stronger team and stronger captain. Maybe Heskey also­ gets injured???

    From mike m, on Sat 5 Jun 22:49
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I say put Terry back as captain!

    From matt, on Sat 5 Jun 22:42

  20. Heskey the donkey was a jolly happy soul, with a corn­ cob pipe and a button nose and two eyes made of coal.

    From sabathiel_01, on Sat 5 Jun 22:40
Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account