Things couldn’t get any better for Spain and Germany, seemingly the only two big names in the World Cup finals who have not been hit by the injury bug on the eve of the tournament.
All England will be singing “Blame it on Rio” since their Captain and starting center back, Rio Ferdinand, sustained significant ligament damage to his left knee during England’s first full practice in South Africa. The Three Lions will promote Michael Dawson to the squad, Stephen Gerrard as captain, and either Matt Upson or Ledley King to starter.
The USA gets no benefit form this news as their star goal scorer Jozy Altidore is day-to-day with a severe ankle sprain. Still, the US did win a friendly today against Australia 3-1. Looks like the winner of U.S. vs. Slovenia advances; if the two teams tie, one might advance on goal differential.
Next, Brazilian keeper Julio Cesar and Italian playmaker and catalyst Andrea Pirlo are both questionable for their respective teams. An injured goalie usually spells death, even for a powerhouse like Brazil, not as deep as they have been in years past. Italy under coach Marcello Lippi have been accused of being too “Pirlo dependent” and he is the best at corner kicks on the squad, so his loss may spell the end for the defending champs. They were humiliated in their last warm-up friendly, a 2-1 loss to Mexico.
Africa may have seen any chance of a home-continent team advancing to the knockout stage evaporate when Ivory Coast star Didier Drogba break his arm in a 2-0 win over Japan yesterday. With Ghana’s Michael essien out and Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o threatening to walk out on Cameroon, african hopes may ride on Nigeria.
So Spain, you may never have a better chance…the planets are aligning, but watch out for Germany.
