Injury scare rocks the heart of English defence for FIFA World Cup 2010
Fabio Capello had just announced his provisional English squad for the summer’s football world cup in South Africa with the heart of his defence being the ever reliable centre back pairing of Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand and Chelsea’s Jonathan Terry but as the Chelsea squad was preparing for a crack at the league double of winning the league and the F.A Cup, with the preparations for the F.A Cup final against the relegated and cash stripped Portsmouth at Wembley in full swing, the news broke out that the inspirational Chelsea captain has fallen injured.
The 29 year old who was set to captain his side in the final of the world’s oldest competition suffered the injury while training with his teammates at Wembley.
Terry, who was stripped of English captaincy just a few months ago after allegations had erupted about his personal life and his alleged affair with his former teammate Wayne Bridge’s ex partner Veronica Peroncell, was all set to be the centre rock of the English Defence at the summer’s football extravaganza along with the newly elected captain Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand.
But with Rio in patchy form since coming back from his back injury that nearly forced him out of the whole English Premier League season and now Terry also being a doubt the English defence is in dire straits.
Although Ledley King and his Tottenham teammate Alan Dawson have been in terrific for their teams as has been Stephen Warnock and Matthew Upson but all four of them don not have the international exposure that is needed at the biggest stage in World Football. Also in the team is Jamie Carragher of Liverpool who is a specialist centre back but he was drafted in the team and brought out of retirement to provide cover for perhaps English defence’s most fragile position, the right-back.
The full scale of Terry’s injury is yet to be analyzed as the central defender is to undergo a full scan later on but it is suspected to be a metatarsal injury.
Metatarsals have been England’s biggest nightmare before a major tournament as it was the then English captain David Beckham who suffered the same injury before the start of 2002 world cup but the midfielder staged a remarkable recovery in record time to represent England at the world cup. Than before the start of euro 2006 England’s prolific striker Wayne Rooney suffered a broken 4th metatarsal and although the striker represented his team in the later stages of the tournament but he was never fit enough but so was his reputation that Sven Goran Eriksson, the then English manager could not leave him out.
But for this world cup the English side is suffering one set back after another, first David Beckham was ruled out of the tournament with an Achilles injury he suffered during his loan spell at AC Milan, then it was Wayne Rooney who after having the season of his life was injured during the last stages of the world cup and perhaps that proved to be a deciding factor in Manchester united losing the premiership title to Chelsea and with the striker suffering from a groin strain again, it is troublesome times for Fabio Capello.
Moreover Manchester City’s Gareth Barry is also out injured and was widely speculated to be omitted from Capello’s initial 30 but wasn’t.
Whether Terry has broken a Metatarsal or just fractured it, it indeed is unfortunate times for Capello who is looking guide England to their first world cup since 1966.
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