[Kebabhead]

Early reports indicate he is still unfit to play

[hottstuff]

Does'nt sound good for england.

[stg]

He's not able to fully train until 6 weeks after the injury took place (june 11th), so basically until the next scan (june 14th) he can't fully train. So he won't really be able to take part in any matches until late June. Sven's taking him, as just announced on SKY News and Fergy's agreed.

Rooney to miss start of World Cup
Fri 26 May, 12:05 PM

LONDON (Reuters) - Striker Wayne Rooney will miss the start of England's World Cup campaign with a broken right foot but could be back in training in less than three weeks.

His club Manchester United said in a statement on Friday that a scan showed the metatarsal break was healing as expected and that a further scan on June 14 could clear the way for the 20-year-old to start training.

England open their Group B campaign on June 10 against Paraguay. Their final first round game against Sweden is on June 20 and, if they qualify, they will play their second round match on June 24 or 25.

"Manchester United has received the results from Wayne Rooney's CT scan performed yesterday and can confirm findings consistent with an injury four weeks old," United said.

"His injury is progressing as expected and we now hope to gradually increase his rehabilitation as planned.

"A further CT scan will be performed in Manchester on 14 June to assess further his recovery and a decision will then be made as to whether he can begin to participate in football training."

The prospect of Rooney being back in training was welcomed by England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson and the Football Association, who said the striker would definitely be heading off to Germany with the rest of the squad.

"Rooney will continue his rehabilitation with Manchester United's medical staff at their Carrington training ground and will then fly to Germany with the England party on 5 June," the FA said on their Web site. "He will return to Manchester on 14 June for a second scan."

'HUGE LIFT'

Eriksson said: "This is very encouraging news. I'm looking forward to Wayne joining up with the rest of the squad on Sunday. The fact that he is flying out to Germany with us will give everyone a huge lift.

"We're still hoping that the second scan will show further improvement and that Wayne can play his part in the World Cup."

Inspirational for his country, Rooney was injured in a Premier League match for United at Chelsea on April 29.

Thursday's scan followed weeks of anxious speculation about Rooney's chances of joining the squad in Germany, where England are bidding for their first major trophy since winning the World Cup in 1966.

After playing Paraguay in Frankfurt on June 10, England go on to face Trinidad & Tobago in Nuremberg on June 15 and Sweden in Cologne on June 20.

Rooney has been vital to England's attack since becoming the youngest player to play for his country as a 17-year-old in 2003 and going on to become its youngest scorer later that year in a Euro 2004 qualifier.

[lee_d_m]

This was always unfortunately going to be the case, and this is exactly why Sven was crazy to only name 4 out-an-out strikers. God forbid, but if Owen gets injured in the first game, we cannot call any other strikers up from the standby list then, and we are left with Crouch and a 16yr old

I think last night showed that Hargreaves should not be in the squad, if it was me, I'd have him out of there in a flash and put Defoe in.

[stg]

Everyone's always been perplexed as to why Hargreaves is in the squad. I mean EVERYONE.

[t-force]

I think it's stupid to keep Rooney in the squad. There's no guarantee he'll be ready for the knock-out stages, and, as has already been said, there's no-one else apart from Theo to call on if Crouchy or Owen get injured - unless Ericsson is planning on playing Gerrard as a striker - which is an option with the way he's playing at the moment.

[mjn]

There's no gurantee, that England will make the knockout stages anyway....

[lee_d_m]

Originally Posted by t-force

I think it's stupid to keep Rooney in the squad. There's no guarantee he'll be ready for the knock-out stages, and, as has already been said, there's no-one else apart from Theo to call on if Crouchy or Owen get injured - unless Ericsson is planning on playing Gerrard as a striker - which is an option with the way he's playing at the moment.

Which is exactly why Sven should have taken a fifth striker. With 23 players in the squad, we can afford to take Rooney, becuase having him available for the 2nd round/quarter final makes a massive difference to our chances of winning the WC. As it is right now, if Owen/Crouch is to get injured early on, we either have to put in walcott from the start, or re-arrange a very very strong midfield. i.e. move Gerrard or Cole.

If he had Defoe/Bent available, then they automatically slot in up front and there's then no need to tinker with the midfield.

Also, there's a big difference between having Gerrard playing the Rooney role compared to what he does now for Liverpool where he starts deep and pushes forward. As good as Gerrard is, its yet to be seen as to whether he can perform as well in the Rooney position.

JMO

Lee