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World Cup 2010: Rio Ferdinand injury blow for England

05 June 2010 01:17 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. England’s World Cup preparations have suffered a setback with captain Rio Ferdinand being taken to hospital for a scan on a knee injury, APA reports quoting BBC.
The centre-back, 31, hurt his left knee towards the end of Friday’s first session at their Rustenburg base.
"It was in a normal tackle and after he turned. We’ll have to wait for the scan," said England boss Fabio Capello.
Goalkeeper David James sat out the session with a slight knee problem, but midfielder Gareth Barry did train.
"Gareth Barry is improving every day," Capello continued. "In the afternoon he is training in the gym with the physio and in the morning always with the team.
"He is not completely training with the team as we have to be very careful with his ankle."
James’s injury is not thought to be too severe and related to Thursday’s 11-hour overnight flight from London to South Africa.
Ferdinand’s knock will give Capello more cause for concern, particularly considering the Manchester United defender’s injury-hit season.
Ferdinand was restricted to just 21 appearances for his club this season, starting only 13 Premier League games, in a campaign disrupted by a back injury.
But he had appeared to have overcome his injury problems as he trained with no setbacks at England’s two-week training camp in Austria and he also came through the friendly victories over Mexico and Japan.
Should a player be ruled out of the tournament before it begins, a replacement can be drafted into the 23-man squad as happened in 2002 when England midfielder Danny Murphy broke a bone in his foot and Trevor Sinclair was called up.
However, if a player is injured during the course of the tournament, then a replacement cannot be brought into the squad.