Soccer: Eriksson prepared to gamble on Rooney

Wayne Rooney

LONDON - Wayne Rooney will be taken to the World Cup if there is any chance he can play in the finals, says England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.

He said yesterday the injured Manchester United striker would go to Germany if doctors gave him a chance of being fit to play at some stage in the tournament.

The 20-year-old could miss England's first two Cup matches because of the foot fracture he suffered at Chelsea on Sunday, a sports injury specialist has said.

However, fears that Rooney's strike partner Michael Owen might also be in serious doubt for the finals starting on June 10 have been allayed.

"I'd doubt very much if Rooney makes the first game or even the second game," expert Roger Robertson told the BBC. "I would say seven weeks. From five weeks onwards just build up the exercise and see how it goes."

Rooney broke a bone in his right foot late in the 3-0 defeat at Chelsea and United said he would be out for six weeks.

England face Paraguay on June 11, Trinidad & Tobago on June 16 and Sweden on June 21 in group B at the World Cup.

Owen, 26, had tests yesterday on the foot injury he suffered four months ago and they showed there was no damage after his uncomfortable comeback for Newcastle United on Sunday.

Media reports said England defender John Terry would be out for 10 days after the Chelsea captain also injured a foot in the title-decider at Stamford Bridge where his club were crowned premier league champions for the second year in a row.

The general consensus among pundits was that without Rooney, England's chances of World Cup victory were greatly reduced.

"It's depressingly sad. Without Rooney, I think we have gone from possible World Cup winners to outsiders," former England manager Bobby Robson told the BBC.

"We can't replace Rooney, I don't think there's another player like him in the country ... there's hardly another player like him in Europe," added Robson, who steered England to the 1990 Cup semifinals in Italy.

"The people who win World Cups are individuals, your top individuals."

Robson believes England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has a tough decision to make whether to include Rooney when he names his 23-man squad on May 16, Fifa's deadline.

"We have enough quality, I would hope, to beat the teams that we have to face in the group matches. What you need then is your top players for the quarter-finals, semifinals and the final, that's when Rooney becomes crucial."

The anguish Rooney must be feeling was revealed in a remark he made in an interview he gave the Observer last week which was published yesterday.

"To see any player get injured and miss the World Cup ... that would be horrible," Rooney said.

Last month, Eriksson, who was watching Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe at White Hart Lane yesterday, was quoted as saying he would take Rooney even if he had fitness doubts.

"If Rooney has a small problem, would you still take him?" the Swede was asked. "What alternative do you have? If you have a centre-half who might not be ready you can take another one, but can you find another Rooney?"

Rooney, who has fractured the fourth metatarsal of his right foot, suffered a crack in the fifth metatarsal in the Euro 2004 quarter-final against Portugal when England were eliminated.

Owen broke the fifth metatarsal on New Year's Eve and required surgery. He said after coming on as a substitute against Birmingham City that he was not entirely comfortable.

- REUTERS