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Injury Blow |
Striker Michael Owen will have a
scan on a knee injury on Wednesday amid fears his World Cup
could be over after less than two minutes of Tuesday's final
Group B game against Sweden.
Owen was taken away on a stretcher after twisting his knee,
overshadowing a 2-2 draw that booked England into a second
round match on Sunday against Ecuador in Stuttgart.
Asked if Owen would be out for the rest of the tournament,
coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said: "Maybe. I hope not, but it
doesn't look good at all. Exactly what it is and how long it
will take (to recover) I don't know. He's going to have a
scan tomorrow and after that we'll see. ..let's hope for him
and for us. I spoke to him at halftime and he was not happy.
Not happy at all."
Defender Jamie Carragher said: "Michael's out of the
tournament and we're just going to have to get on with it
and do as well as we can with what we've got." Midfielder
Steven Gerrard added: "He's really down. We need to support
him. It's not looking good."
Owen was not the only England injury suffered on Tuesday, as
central defender Rio Ferdinand made way for Sol Campbell in
the 56th minute. "Rio had a small problem with his groin,"
Eriksson said. "He felt it a little bit in the first half
and I told him at halftime not to risk anything. It didn't
go away, so he asked to be substituted...probably he will
only have massage tomorrow."
Owen fell awkwardly and twisted his right knee as he went
down, forcing Eriksson to send on Peter Crouch as a fourth
minute substitute. He was hoping to avoid using Crouch as
the lanky striker already has one yellow card and another
would rule him out against Ecuador. He came through without
a booking.
TRUE FORM
Owen had been looking to show his true form against the
Swedes, having been given less than an hour in England's two
previous group wins over Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago
after a lengthy absence with a broken foot. A serious injury
for the 26-year-old, who has scored 36 goals in 79 England
appearances, would be a blow to their tournament prospects.
Along with Wayne Rooney, who against the Swedes was starting
his first game since breaking his foot on April 29, Owen is
England's only proven goalscorer at the top level. Eriksson
had gambled by taking only four strikers to Germany, with
the other being 17-year-old Theo Walcott. The teenager has
only made one substitutes' appearance for England, in last
month's friendly win over Hungary, and has never played for
Arsenal since joining them in January.
"As other options we have Walcott, who we haven't seen on
the pitch yet and many players who can take that role -- Joe
Cole and Steven Gerrard -- who both scored fantastic goals
today," said Eriksson. "I'm not that worried about it." |