Michael Owen will be ruled out of the World Cup once a scan on Wednesday confirms the extent of his knee injury.

 

The England striker twisted his right knee early on in the draw with Sweden, and goalkeeper Paul Robinson told BBC Sport the injury "was a bad one".

 

"Everyone's gutted for Michael. He did his knee quite seriously and won't play again in the World Cup," Robinson said.

 

Manager Sven-Goran Eriksson feared the worst, saying: "Maybe he's out of the tournament, it doesn't look good."

 

It looked as if Owen suffered serious knee ligament damage when playing a pass to Ashley Cole in the first few minutes of the 2-2 draw in Cologne.

 

The 26-year-old, who was winning his 80th cap, crawled off the pitch as soon as he hit the ground, suggesting he knew something was badly wrong.

 

Ice was put on the knee and a brace was later applied.

 

He will have a scan later on Wednesday at England's Baden-Baden base camp, having flown back there with the rest of the squad overnight.

 

England skipper David Beckham admitted he thought Owen's injury was serious.

 

"It's sad - Michael's one of those players you need in big tournaments. It's unfortunate for him and for us," Beckham said.

 

Former England captain Alan Shearer, who played with Owen at Newcastle last season, told Match of the Day on Tuesday night: "I have had a text from him. He's in a lot of pain and he hopes it's not bad."

 

The bad injury caps a nightmare season for Owen, who returned to English football last summer in a £17m switch from Real Madrid to Newcastle.

 

He enjoyed a successful start to his Newcastle career, but broke his foot on New Year's Eve at Tottenham.

 

Owen battled back to play at the World Cup but looked less than fully fit and was substituted in both of England's opening games, without scoring.

 

Short of strikers

 

Now it appears his World Cup is over - which also leaves England alarmingly short of strikers.

 

Wayne Rooney, who has also just recovered from a broken metatarsal, made his first start on Tuesday since suffering that injury.

 

Peter Crouch and the untested Theo Walcott are the only other established strikers in Eriksson's squad.

 

The Swede was heavily criticised when he picked his World Cup party for only including four strikers - leaving Jermain Defoe and Darren Bent at home.

 

Looking ahead to how England may line up in attack without Owen, Robinson admitted: "It looks like we'll go through the rest of the tournament with Wayne Rooney and Peter Crouch and hopefully they'll do well."

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk

:( I feel so bad for him.. Must feel awful!

that's absolutely terrible! poor owen, was looking forward to seeing him play. hopefully he'll get well soon

Poor Owen!:( Though i aint a fan of him, i really feel sorry for him!

its been confirmed now. Out for at least five months.

Michael Owen received the news the whole of England was fearing, if expecting, when it was confirmed on Wednesday that he would miss the remainder of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™.

 

The England and Newcastle United striker was stretchered off after twisting his knee awkwardly in the first minute of Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side’s 2-2 draw with Sweden in Cologne, and though the English Football Association has not revealed the extent of the injury, it is believed that cruciate ligament damage has been sustained.

 

This could well mean a period of around five months in rehabilitation for a player who only recently returned to action from a broken foot that had sidelined him since 31 December.

 

Owen said today: "Obviously it's a massive blow to suffer the injury – and to be out of the World Cup. As soon as it happened I knew I was in trouble. It was a major disappointment to pick up the injury so early in the game.

 

"I'll go back home now and work with the Newcastle medical staff to put a recovery programme in place. I'm clearly sorry to be leaving the lads in Germany, but I'm convinced they can go on and achieve success.

 

"I'll be following all the matches very closely and giving them my full support, hopefully all the way to Berlin. My main objective is now to get fit as quickly as possible for Newcastle United."

 

The thoughts of England fans will be dominated by sadness for Owen, but there will also be the realisation that the 26-year-old’s injury leaves a gaping void in their side’s attacking armoury, particularly as Wayne Rooney is still evidently short of match-fitness and only the untried teenager Theo Walcott can be considered a genuine like-for-like replacement for the Newcastle striker.

 

Take a look at England’s FIFA World Cup squad

 

Eriksson, however, opted to leave that particular dilemma for another day and focus on sympathising with a player who has long been his first-choice striker.

 

"Michael has had terrible luck with injuries since Christmas," said the England coach. "I feel very sorry for him to miss out on the rest of the World Cup - it's blow to him and a big loss for the team.

 

"However, I am sure Michael will work very hard to get back as quickly as possible for Newcastle and England. He is a true professional and a very mentally strong person. I hope the team can now go on and achieve success in Germany for Michael."

 

:(

i missed that injury, is there any pic or vid how it happen yesterday?

watching him twist his knee, already caused me pain :sick:

didn't look very good and i feel sorry for him

since the world cup is the biggest event in a footie player's career :(

I saw the replay of the game last night.... :stunned: OUCH!!! Poor Owen... his fall looked sooooooo painful!!

I don't like England but still I feel bad when a guy gets hurt like that and has to miss the rest of the tourney.

And he waited so much to play together with Rooney..