Injuries hitting World Cup stars before World Cup starts
Reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa -- South Africa has its fair share of poisonous snakes, but the country never thought its World Cup would be snake-bit.
It has been, though. How else to explain the rash of injuries in recent weeks that will deprive the 32-nation tournament of many of the sport’s leading figures?
Germany’s Michael Ballack suffered ligament damage in his right ankle when tackled by Kevin-Prince Boateng during the English FA Cup final May 15.
Boateng is on Ghana’s World Cup team, which lost its own most influential midfielder on May 27, when Michael Essien finally had to admit that he had not recovered sufficiently from a left knee injury sustained in January.
Ghana Coach Milovan Rajevac was not pleased.
“Essien is an important player, not only for Ghana but for the World Cup,” Rajevac said on the Ghana soccer federation’s website before Essien’s withdrawal was announced. “He is one of the best players in the world and the World Cup is an assembly of the best … and people want to see Essien.”
But Essien won’t be here.
Nor will England’s Rio Ferdinand, who on Friday crumpled under a heavy challenge from teammate Emile Heskey during training and came up with ligament damage in his left knee. He was on crutches by afternoon and will miss the tournament.
“It’s a massive blow,” former England player Terry Butcher told Britain’s Sky Sport’s News. “He’s the captain … at the heart of the defense. He’s a leader.”
England Coach Fabio Capello has called Michael Dawson onto the team as a replacement. Dawson had a far better Premier League season than Ferdinand and, although far less experienced, is a more than capable replacement.
Steven Gerrard will take over as captain of England, which opens against the U.S. on June 12.
Another player whose World Cup has quite possibly ended before it began is Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba, who on Thursday suffered “a fracture in his right arm” in a clash with Japan defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka during a 2-0 Ivory Coast victory in a warmup game in Sion, Switzerland.
Drogba initially told reporters he would miss the tournament, but later retracted that after learning he would undergo immediate surgery.
“The Ivory Coast Football Federation stress that the striker Didier Drogba has not, for the moment, been ruled out of the 2010 World Cup,” the federation said on its website.
There is doubt that even surgery could get Drogba back in time, however.
Snake-bit is what it all adds up to.
