Drogba and Ferdinand out of the World Cup

June 4, 2010 - PRLog -- Drogba is likely to miss the World Cup, due to a fractured elbow at 15 minutes, caused by a particularly physical challenge from Japan defender Tulio Tanaka during a warm up match. Drogba had scored The Ivory Coast’s first goal just two minutes before his injury. The “Elephants” ended up winning 2-0 with the other goal being scored by Kolo Toure. The game took place in Sion, Switzerland.

An emotional Sven Goran Eriksson said this after the news of Drogba’s injury: “Yes, I’m worried, of course I am.”

England also appears to have lost its captain Rio Ferdinand due to injury on his left knee in training last Friday. A hospital scan latter confirmed that his 2010 World Cup is over before it even starts. Tottenham defender and World Cup alternate Michael Dawson will likely be called in to replace Ferdinand in Fabio Capello’s squad.

Just over two months ago, David Beckham, one of the most experienced English players was also unlucky when he fell victim of a snapped Achilles tendon, an injury that occurred with no opponent close by, possibly ending his career.

So far, the Germans have been the hardest hit by injuries. Starting with their idol Michael Ballack, who is out of the World Cup because of torn ligaments on his right ankle, after an extremely hard tackle by Ghana’s Boateng during the final of the FA Cup between Chelsea and Portsmouth.

Without its biggest star, Coach Joachim Law picked Traesch to replace Ballack, but days later, in a friendly against a team from the region of Tyrol, Traesch sprained his right ankle and also got the news that he too, would not be convened. Before that, defender Westermann, had a problem with his right foot and was also out.

Another country that has lost its best footballer is Ghana. Striker Michael Essien suffered a serious injury to his left knee in January and was unable to recover in time, consequently being left out by Coach Milovan Rajevac.

Bosingwa, the Portugal defender also suffered a knee injury and was not chosen as part of the Portuguese squad for South Africa 2010.

Curiously, it was Chelsea, the English Premier League champions that had the most injuries. Drogba, Essien, Ballack and Bosingwa all play for Chelsea.

You can watch the Video of the injury during the game, as well as other information about South Africa and the 2010 World Cup at: http://www.2010-southafrica.com

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