England Captain Rio Ferdinand To Miss 2010 World Cup With Knee Injury
England captain Rio Ferdinand suffered a knee injury in training Friday and will miss the 2010 World Cup.
The injury happened during England's first training session since arriving in South Africa earlier this week. According to coach Fabio Capello, the problem occurred at the end of the team's session, prompting the Manchester United star to go to a local hospital for tests. Ferdinand emerged later in the day on crutches.
Since, the Guardian has confirmed that the 31-year-old center half will miss three months, ruling him out of the World Cup. Tottenham Hotspur defender Michael Dawson will be called-in to replace Ferdinand on the roster, with current vice-captain Steven Gerrard expected to assume the team's armband.
The 2010 finals were to be Rio Ferdinand's fourth, having seemingly recovered from season-long back problems to assume his place in coach Fabio Capello's starting XI. With the injury, Tottenham Hotspur defender Ledley King is expected to assume Ferdinand's place in the team; however, King's chronic knee ailments could mean playing time for fourth choice center half Matthew Upson or Capello's surprise call-up, Liverpool's Jamie Carragher.
Having made his England debut in 1997, Ferdinand has 78 career caps for the Three Lions. On February 5, Ferdinand was promoted to team captain, becoming the first black captain in the team’s history. His back injury, however, had limited him to only 13 Premier League matches and caused him to miss friendlies with the team. Those worries were placated as Ferdinand started England’s friendlies against Mexico and Japan, going 90 minutes on May 30.
