Forlan hurt as Cup injury woes mount
Source: Agencies |
June 7, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
WORLD Cup injury scares continued yesterday when Uruguay striker Diego Forlan appeared to injure his left foot during training.
England defender and captain Rio Ferdinand and midfielders Michael Ballack of Germany and Michael Essien of Ghana have been ruled out of the month-long tournament that kicks off this Friday in South Africa. Nigeria midfielder John Obi Mikel joined this list on Saturday, out with an ailing knee.
Mikel will miss the World Cup because he has not recovered from knee surgery. He will be replaced by Ideye Brown, Nigeria Football Federation spokesman Ademola Olajire said.
And there have been scares over Ivory Coast talisman Didier Drogba and Netherlands midfielder Arjen Robben as the 32 challengers apply finishing touches to preparations.
Former Chelsea winger Robben's World Cup hopes will depend on the outcome of a scan after he was injured during Netherlands's 6-1 friendly thrashing of Hungary in Amsterdam.
Robben, who hobbled off two minutes from time, has not travelled to South Africa with the rest of the Dutch squad.
A host of weekend friendlies saw South Africa extend an unbeaten run to 12 matches, Algeria and Ghana secure morale-boosting victories and title holder Italy struggle once again.
Another England defender, Matthew Upson, missed training in the Highveld platinum town of Rustenburg because of a high temperature but is expected to practice today.
Slovakia defender Martin Skrtel was also hurt on Saturday. The Liverpool central defender injured his ankle in the 13th minute of Slovakia's 3-0 win over Costa Rica, but he is expected to travel with the team to South Africa.
"The World Cup's not the same if the main stars are not there," Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac said after his team beat Latvia 1-0.
Others being affected by injuries include Mexico forward Guillermo Franco, Italy's Andrea Pirlo, Chile striker Humberto Suazo and United States striker Jozy Altidore. Besides Ballack, Germany has also lost goalkeeper Rene Adler and midfielder Simon Rolfes to injury.
Training session
Drama enveloped the first Uruguay training session in Kimberley when Forlan collided with midfielder Walter Gargano, grimaced with pain for several minutes and carried on.
The Atletico Madrid goal poacher is key to Uruguay surviving Group A, which includes France, Mexico and South Africa.
Ivorian officials say Drogba had a successful operation on a forearm fractured in a friendly win over Japan and hopes to play against Portugal on June 15 in a crucial Group G clash for both teams.
Japan, whose coach Takeshi Okada insists the Blue Samurai can confound critics and reach the semifinals, was among teams to arrive in South Africa yesterday ahead of the first World Cup hosted on the continent.
South Africa edged Denmark 1-0, Algeria won by the same score against the United Arab Emirates while a winless Cameroon run grew to seven matches following a 3-4 loss away to fellow qualifier Serbia.
Honduras fell 0-3 to Romania while the US beat Australia 3-1 and Italy drew 1-1 with Switzerland.
England defender and captain Rio Ferdinand and midfielders Michael Ballack of Germany and Michael Essien of Ghana have been ruled out of the month-long tournament that kicks off this Friday in South Africa. Nigeria midfielder John Obi Mikel joined this list on Saturday, out with an ailing knee.
Mikel will miss the World Cup because he has not recovered from knee surgery. He will be replaced by Ideye Brown, Nigeria Football Federation spokesman Ademola Olajire said.
And there have been scares over Ivory Coast talisman Didier Drogba and Netherlands midfielder Arjen Robben as the 32 challengers apply finishing touches to preparations.
Former Chelsea winger Robben's World Cup hopes will depend on the outcome of a scan after he was injured during Netherlands's 6-1 friendly thrashing of Hungary in Amsterdam.
Robben, who hobbled off two minutes from time, has not travelled to South Africa with the rest of the Dutch squad.
A host of weekend friendlies saw South Africa extend an unbeaten run to 12 matches, Algeria and Ghana secure morale-boosting victories and title holder Italy struggle once again.
Another England defender, Matthew Upson, missed training in the Highveld platinum town of Rustenburg because of a high temperature but is expected to practice today.
Slovakia defender Martin Skrtel was also hurt on Saturday. The Liverpool central defender injured his ankle in the 13th minute of Slovakia's 3-0 win over Costa Rica, but he is expected to travel with the team to South Africa.
"The World Cup's not the same if the main stars are not there," Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac said after his team beat Latvia 1-0.
Others being affected by injuries include Mexico forward Guillermo Franco, Italy's Andrea Pirlo, Chile striker Humberto Suazo and United States striker Jozy Altidore. Besides Ballack, Germany has also lost goalkeeper Rene Adler and midfielder Simon Rolfes to injury.
Training session
Drama enveloped the first Uruguay training session in Kimberley when Forlan collided with midfielder Walter Gargano, grimaced with pain for several minutes and carried on.
The Atletico Madrid goal poacher is key to Uruguay surviving Group A, which includes France, Mexico and South Africa.
Ivorian officials say Drogba had a successful operation on a forearm fractured in a friendly win over Japan and hopes to play against Portugal on June 15 in a crucial Group G clash for both teams.
Japan, whose coach Takeshi Okada insists the Blue Samurai can confound critics and reach the semifinals, was among teams to arrive in South Africa yesterday ahead of the first World Cup hosted on the continent.
South Africa edged Denmark 1-0, Algeria won by the same score against the United Arab Emirates while a winless Cameroon run grew to seven matches following a 3-4 loss away to fellow qualifier Serbia.
Honduras fell 0-3 to Romania while the US beat Australia 3-1 and Italy drew 1-1 with Switzerland.
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