Rooney’s quick recovery attributed to injury type
Rooney’s quick recovery attributed to injury type
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Two late second-half goal from Liverpool duo Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard gave England a 2-0 win against Trinidad and Tobago, as the Three Lions qualified for the second round despite an overall performance that was far from convincing. |  |
Friday, 16, Jun 2006 11:14
Wayne Rooney returned to England’s World Cup line-up far earlier than planned because his injury was not a conventional break to the metatarsal, according to an independent panel of doctors who supervised his treatment.
Professors Angus Wallace and Chris Morgan, the doctors who passed Rooney fit to play in England’s Group B fixture against Trinidad & Tobago in Nuremberg, said that the fact that the 20-year-old starlet had damaged the bottom of his metatarsal rather than the bone in the metatarsal shaft contributed to his swift recovery.
The Manchester United player, who could become the crucial cog in England’s bid to win their first World Cup in 40 years, has made a remarkable recovery to match fitness since he sustained the injury in a Premiership game against Chelsea in late April.
By contrast, Rooney’s team-mate Gary Neville, who missed the World Cup finals in 2002 after sustaining a similar injury, took 21 weeks before making a good recovery.
Combined with the less severe type of injury that Rooney sustained, the professors said that they had been “impressed” by the treatment he had received from the Manchester United medical team.
Rooney will be hoping to make a significant contribution to England’s final World Cup group match against Sweden, which will also enable him to gain vital match fitness for the knock-out stages.