England Skipper Beckham May Miss World Cup

Last updated : 11 April 2002 By Rob Cooper
David Beckham
Beckham May Miss the World Cup
Manchester United today confirmed that Beckham will be out for six weeks after breaking the metatarsal bone in his foot. He will definetely miss the rest of United's games this season and there is a very real chance that he may miss the World Cup.

Expert physio Jon Fearn gave readingfc.co.uk his opinion on the injury "It's probably just a crack through the bone, it will take six weeks or so for that to heal, then he'll need a few more weeks to get used to running again and putting pressure on it. Eight weeks is probably optimistic. He should be running by the start of the World Cup, whether it'll be strong enough to cope will be difficult to say."

"I guess the best thing for England will be for them to expect him not to be involved in the World Cup, if he does its a bonus".

Sir Alex Ferguson said: "The Champions League quarter-finals have been an unfortunate round for him, but he's young and there will be other campaigns.

"You could see the pain he was in, but he will play in the World Cup again and he will play in the European Cup again."

Meanwhile England boss Sven Goran Erikksson told the FA's Website

"This is a real blow for David personally, for Manchester United and for England," admitted England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.

"But there is nothing we can do about it.

"I am sure that the medical staff at Manchester United will be doing everything in their power to ensure that David recovers fully and quickly."