Soccer: Rooney given the all-clear

England soccer player Wayne Rooney leaves a Manchester hospital this morning after the scan on his broken foot. Picture / Reuters

The news the whole of England had been waiting for finally arrived today when Wayne Rooney was given the all-clear to take part in the World Cup.

After a nerve-jangling few hours at the Bupa clinic in Whalley Range, Manchester, doctors finally informed England's talismanic striker that the crucial scan on his broken metatarsal had revealed that the injury had healed.

A smiling Rooney left the hospital at 6.45am (NZT) today and was immediately whisked back to Manchester Airport - flanked by David Davies, the Football Association's executive director - where a private jet flew him back to Germany to join up with the rest of Sven-Goran Eriksson's squad.

Eriksson can now contemplate including Rooney in the side, possibly before the end of the group stages.

Representatives from Manchester United and England - and United's lawyers - all apparently studied the scan.

United's doctor Tony Gill and physio Rob Swire, England team doctor Leif Sward and other specialists were all present.

It is also thought that an independent consultant from Fifa, world football's governing body was on hand, just in case there was any conflict between Rooney's club and country.

Rooney's England team-mate John Terry yesterday issued a characteristic defence of the England training methods after admitting he had feared a harsh tackle had cost him a place in the World Cup.

Terry, the Chelsea captain, admitted he could have joined Rooney on a plane back to England following a clash with Wayne Bridge during Tuesday's public training session at the Mittelbergstadion in Buhlertal.

Bridge caught the 25-year-old on the ankle of the right foot which had required three stitches following a foul by Rooney in the now infamous game at Stamford Bridge on 29 April and strengthened the argument that England were taking unnecessary risks.

However, despite immediate concerns that Terry's participation in Germany was over, he shook off the injury and last night did the same to calls for the squad to take a more genteel approach to training.

"You know your World Cup can be over in one tackle but the way we train is an advantage," said Terry.

"When he caught me on the ankle I thought for a few minutes, 'I'm struggling here and I could be on the way home.' Thankfully, after a few minutes I was back on my feet. The tempo we train at is the plus-side for us. When Sammy Lee [referee] gave a corner we'd be swearing at him and going mad. None of the lads want to lose and that's a great feeling. It's an English thing. Speaking to the other lads, it's what you get every day at Chelsea, Man U and Liverpool."

Terry, who is so crucial to England's prospects of success in Germany, explained that in training sessions there was method in the madness.

He said: "If you start pulling out of tackles in training you do get hurt and if you let other people get therebefore you, when it comes to the game situation, you will be hesitant. It's all about coming into the game situation 100 per cent."

Terry has warned Rooney that he "owes him one" for that first-half challenge during Chelsea's coronation as Premiership champions last season - but the defender joked, "I think I'll save it for next season."

The centre-half's more immediate concern is with a Paraguay team he described as streetwise and with expanding his reputation as one of the finest defenders in the world in Germany this summer.

"Four years ago I was nowhere near the World Cup," he admitted.

"Looking at it from a professional point of view I wasn't ready. I know I wasn't ready as a player. Looking at the other players at the time - Rio and Sol - they were different class going into the last World Cup. I wasn't near them at the time. Now I feel ready. It is time for me to prove myself.

"I feel very experienced with the Champions' League experience I have but this is my first World Cup and I'm looking forward to it as much as anyone. It's a great opportunity for me to prove myself."

The England squad were given advice on the new Fifa guidelines for the tournament at their five-star hotel by a World Cup referee yesterday afternoon, with Fifa particularly keen to punish diving following several high-profile incidents in recent years.

"He went through everything and covered every minor detail," Terry said.

"The only thing he said is that it will be the referee's opinion and they will be fair.

"Some things will be cautioned, like pulling a shirt if a player is through on goal one minute and not the next, depending on how the ref is feeling, but he said they're going to be pretty strict, which we knew about. They have messed around with the offside law a tiny bit too."

Terry added: "He did not cover that too much - although we knew about that.

The main thing is that the rules are set and everybody knows them before we start."Terry's Stamford Bridge team-mate Frank Lampard believes England have both the experience and the mentality to handle the heightened expectation that follows them into the 2006 World Cup.

Lampard said this claim was backed by evidence of the success of Premiership teams in Europe over the past two years and the standards Chelsea have raised domestically in thatperiod.

Lampard continued: "Any person who wants to get to the top in any walk of life has to live with pressure and cope with expectations. If you can't handle that you won't get right to the top. That's why everyone is is positive this year.

"Look through our team and there are so many players from that high-pressure world who have been successful - Liverpool, Chelsea, United, Arsenal - all had it before and can handle it. It will be a disappointment if we do anything other than win it."

- INDEPENDENT