FABIO CAPELLO was left to lament the “curse of the captain” last night after Rio Ferdinand was ruled out of the World Cup with a knee ligament injury sustained in training. The Manchester United centre half is braced for up to eight weeks in rehabilitation after twisting the joint as he stretched to tackle Emile Heskey in the last few minutes of England’s morning session at the Royal Bafokeng sports campus yesterday.
While the clash had appeared innocuous, Ferdinand’s agonised scream immediately alerted those present. The 31-year-old was helped from the pitch in obvious discomfort and, along with the national team doctor Ian Beasley, was taken by ambulance to the Netcare Ferncrest hospital in nearby Rustenburg to undergo a scan.
Doctors later confirmed he had sustained damage to his medial ligaments and, while the English Football Association did seek out a second opinion, it subsequently conceded the player had been ruled out of the tournament.
Initial estimates that the centre-half could be out for four to six weeks could yet prove optimistic, with the player himself fearing he will be absent for nearer two months, rendering him doubtful for the start of the new Premier League season.
Capello, frustrated if pragmatic as ever, has called up uncapped Tottenham Hotspur centre back Michael Dawson (26) as an emergency replacement, with Steven Gerrard installed as England’s captain for the finals and Frank Lampard stepping up to vice-captain.
“The other players were upset, absolutely,” Capello said. “Training stopped and, although I hadn’t seen the incident, Rio told me he’d put his feet down and twisted in the tackle with Heskey, then he felt big pain in the knee. Big pain. It’s the curse of being the captain again and, it’s true, it couldn’t have been much worse on our first full day.
“All the players here with me are important, but Rio is one of the players who starts the games and is the captain, and a leader. It is obviously bad news and everyone with the squad is very disappointed and sorry for Rio. It was an accidental injury in training, and had nothing to do with the pitch.”
Dawson, unused in the recent friendlies against Mexico and Japan and utterly untried at this level, flew out from Heathrow to Johannesburg last night as a replacement after spending yesterday with his wife Anna celebrating their first wedding anniversary. He will now compete with Matthew Upson, who has started nine of the last 17 England matches, and the experienced if only recently recalled Jamie Carragher and Ledley King for a place alongside John Terry at the heart of the England defence.
“It’s a crazy game and things can change in a split second,” Dawson said. “One minute I’m trying to arrange my holiday, then I get a call asking if I was on holiday because Rio had pulled out of training. I said ‘no’ and then I was just waiting by the phone before getting a call saying I would be picked up in an hour. It’s been a crazy day. For Rio to get injured, there would be no worse feeling for him as a player.
“I was planning to watch the first game of the tournament with my friends and family, but now I’m going to be there for real. I’ll be going out there still having not yet won a senior cap, so where better place to get one if that was to happen?”
While Capello’s squad perhaps boasts more depth in quality at centre half than in other area, they have achieved only seven clean sheets in 24 games under Capello and doubts remain over King’s ability, in particular, to play twice in a short period of time given his own chronic knee complaints.
That will remain a concern for the England management staff, who had deliberately tested the 29-year-old Spurs captain to the limit during the recent training camp in Austria, albeit under the supervision of the Spurs physio Nathan Gardiner. King played all of the 3-1 win against Mexico at Wembley, but was not involved against Japan in Graz and trained alone with the physios yesterday.
Guardian Service
