England’s World Cup hopes have been dealt a blow after Rio Ferdinand was forced to withdraw from the tournament. The captain pulled out of training on Friday morning and was taken to hospital for a scan but has been told he cannot play in any of England’s World Cup matches.
The FA have not disclosed the nature of the injury but Ferdinand was pictured leaving the hospital on crutches following the scan and he has been ruled out of the tournament. It is suspected that the Manchester United star has suffered ligament damage to his left knee.
Speaking at a press conference in Rustenburg before the results of the scan were known, Fabio Capello had revealed that there was a potential problem.
"Other bad news is that Rio hurt his knee in the last moment of training in a tackle. He has gone to the hospital for a scan and we hope he will be ok,” the England manager said.
The Football Association is expected to make a statement later today.
Capello will now be forced to call up a replacement just days after cutting his squad to 23 players before the June 1 deadline. It is likely that Michael Dawson, the Tottenham Hotspur centre-back will get the call to join the squad in South Africa.
Ferdinand was only handed the armband in February after Capello stripped John Terry of the captaincy following revelations about his private life. Steven Gerrard was appointed vice-captain at that time and will now be expected to lead England out in Ferdinand's absence.
England begin their World Cup campaign against USA on June 12 before playing Algeria and Slovakia in their other Group C games.
