LONDON: England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has suffered “minor ligament damage” and a scan of his injured ankle showed no fracture, his club said yesterday.
ONLY A FRACTURE: Rooney leaves a hotel on crutches in Munich after he was injured during the Champions League quarter-final match against Bayern Munich. — Reuters photo
The results of the scan appear to suggest Rooney should be able to play in this year’s World Cup finals in South Africa, which kick off in 10 weeks’ time.
“We’re pleased to report that Wayne has not suffered a fracture. The scan revealed only minor ligament damage,” a club spokeswoman told ManUtd.com, without saying how many games Rooney will miss.
The 24-year-old appears almost certain to play no part in Saturday’s crucial top-of-the-table Premier League clash against Chelsea.
Rooney was injured in United’s 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.
He limped off the field and left Bayern’s Allianz Arena with his right ankle encased in a plastic boot before having a scan on his return to Britain.
It was initially feared the injury could either rule him out of the World Cup, where he will be key to England’s hopes, or leave him facing the same desperate race for fitness he endured before the 2006 finals.
Rooney underlined his importance to club and country by scoring his 34th goal of the season after just 64 seconds of the match in Munich.
But he was later left slumped on the turf after a collision with Bayern forward Mario Gomez moments before Ivica Olic scored Bayern’s winning goal in injury time.
As Rooney tackled Gomez from behind, the German stood on Rooney’s left foot, causing the United striker to jump in pain and land awkwardly on his right foot, twisting his ankle.
As well as the Chelsea match, Rooney must also be a doubt to play any part in the second leg against Bayern at Old Trafford on Wednesday, a match United must win if they are to progress to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
But United will be anxious that their in-form striker can return to action soon to spearhead their challenge to retain the Premier League title.
After Chelsea, they face Blackburn away on April 11 before taking on cross-city rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford six days later.
Rooney’s fight to recover from a broken metatarsal bone in the build-up to the 2006 World Cup became a national media obsession in England. Although he eventually regained enough fitness to play in the finals in Germany, he was clearly struggling for sharpness and England were eliminated in the quarter-finals. — AFP