England World Cup Hopes Suffer Small Blow As David Beckham Injury Puts Pressure On Walcott

March 19, 2010

All the focus this week has been on the injury to David Beckham which has ruled him out of the World Cup but doesn’t it seem a huge fuss has been made about nothing? He may be a hugely popular player but he was probably never going to play more than an hour in the entire tournament and it could actually be a blessing in disguise.

The Achilles tendon injury clearly isn’t expected to hamper England’s chances at the World Cup as the England World Cup Odds remain unchanged and England are still one of the favourites to win the World Cup. What is much more worrying than the Beckham injury is Aaron Lennon’s groin injury that has kept him out all year. He has looked the complete right winger this season, skinning opponents, setting up goals with great crosses and also chipping in with goals now.

The bookies make Aaron Lennon the odds on favourite to start for England on the right wing against USA and if he returns and proves his fitness then that looks about right. But what if Lennon’s niggling problem continues and he doesn’t make the place to South Africa?

The next players on the list appear to be Capello favourite James Milner, the inconsistent Theo Walcott and also Shaun Wright Phillips, who appears to have booked a spot on Capello’s plans from a decent twenty minutes off the bench against Egypt.

The Beckham injury could be good news for Joe Cole, who is still struggling for form since his injury problems but he remains a great talent and his World Cup 2010 hopes might not be dashed yet, he could still be the twenty third man that makes the squad, which will be announced on June 1st.

Whatever happens it seems England are not short of options on the right wing but they could end up short of top quality options and that can sometimes make the difference between winning and losing.

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.