ESPH Blog

June 4th: England captain Rio Ferdinand has been involved in a training ground injurywith teammate Emile Heskey. Ferdinand, pictured leaving hospital on crutches after a scan on his left knee, is now doubtful for the tournament. England manager Fabio Capello has called up Tottenham’s Michael Dawson who was on standby. Earlier, Capello told a press conference: 'The bad news is Rio suffered a problem with the knee. He has just gone to hospital for a scan. We hope it will not be so bad an injury but we have Michael Dawson on call.' He said the skipper hurt his knee during the final minutes of England's first major training session since arriving in South Africa yesterday.The loss of the captain is a huge blow to the team’s hopes in South Africa. It would have been his fourth World Cup and he has vast experience to call upon.

May 26th: England coach Fabio Capello has given Gareth Barry another week to prove he has recovered from the ankle injury he sustained playing for Manchester City against Tottenham on May 5th. Barry underwent a series of fitness tests on Tuesday to ascertain the extent of his rehabilitation.  Coach Capello has consistently maintained that he won't include any players in his final 23 who aren't match fit and it is a clear indication of how highly he regards Barry that he is prepared to wait until the last minute before making the call. "Barry always played with me," said Capello. "If Barry is fit, he will come with us. If not, he will stay at home. He is one of the players we want to be fit." Capello names his final 23 on June 1st.

May 25th: Wales and British Lions centre James Hook will miss his country's challenging summer tests against South Africa and New Zealand. Hook will undergo surgery to a long-standing shoulder injuryafter his club, Osprey's, final game of the season against Leinster on Saturday. "I'm feeling all right, the shoulder injury is not ideal but there are a couple of games left and hopefully I'll get through them," Hook told BBC Sport Wales earlier this month. "It has restricted me, I've been having pain-killing injections trying to manage it... it's not ideal but it's something you just get on with." Hook joins a growing list of casualties that includes Dwayne Peel, Martyn Williams and Luke Charteris.

 

May 25th:  Arsenal's midflield maestro Cesc Fabregas took part in a full training session on Monday boosting Spain's preparations for the World Cup. Fabregas has been out since April after cracking his fibula in Arsenal's Champions League quarter final against Barcelona. He is widely tipped to be moving back to Barcelona this summer, the club he served his apprenticeship with. Spanish striker Fernando Torres, who had surgery to repair torn knee cartilage, trained on his own and is in a race to be fit in time for next month's World Cup.