England captain Rio Ferdinand out of World Cup
Updated on 04 June 2010
England captain Rio Ferdinand is out of the World Cup after suffering a knee injury. Channel 4 News reporter Keme Nzerem who is in South Africa says it's a massive setback for England on the very eve of the World Cup tournament.
England captain Rio Ferdinand is out of the World Cup just a day after arriving in South Africa to prepare for the finals. It is after he injured his knee in training earlier.
The Football Association has confirmed: "Further to a scan arranged by the England medical staff immediately after training on Friday afternoon, Rio has been ruled out for 4-6 weeks and will therefore unfortunately miss the World Cup.
"Tottenham Hotspur's Michael Dawson has been contacted today and will fly to South Africa on Friday evening."
"Steven Gerrard will lead the England team as captain in the tournament."
The Manchester United star left hospital on crutches after undergoing a scan on the knee injury suffered during the final minutes of England's second training session at their Bafokeng Sports Centre base.
Ferdinand picked up the injury after what Fabio Capello described as a "minor tackle", reportedly by striker Emile Heskey.
The fact that Michael Dawson was immediately put on stand-by by the Italian suggests the setback is more than a minor scare.
Ferdinand had been talking optimistically only 48 hours ago about leading England to World Cup glory.
Keme Nzerem (@nzerem) reports from Rustenburg
No one expected England's first World Cup press conference to be anything other than a formality. Sure, we know about Gareth Barry's dodgy ankle and Theo Walcott's bleeding heart.
But disaster has struck Camp England before the tournament has even begun. Coach Fabio Capello said this morning "I have some bad news".
The captain Rio Ferdinand has turned his knee as a result of an awkward tackle.
None of the waiting press saw the injury. Rio emerged from hospital on crutches this afternoon.
He insisted anything less than winning the competition would not be regarded as a success and that England were "not here to make up the numbers".
Capello has stressed his confidence in England being able to make a strong challenge if they have all their key players available and Ferdinand falls into that category.
He confirmed: "In the last moment of the training, Rio suffered a problem with the knee.
"He has gone to hospital for a scan. We hope it will not be so bad an injury but we have Michael Dawson on call.
"It came from a minor tackle during the training. It happened in a normal tackle."
(England captain Rio Ferdinand on crutches after injuring his knee in training - Getty)