Injuries rob World Cups of star attractions

LAGOS: Nigeria suffered a blow just under a week away from the start of the World Cup as they announced that star midfielder Mikel John Obi had been left out of the squad because he did not want to aggravate a knee-injury.

The 23-year-old Chelsea star - who follows club team-mates Michael Ballack, Michael Essien and possibly Didier Drogba in missing out on the finals because of injury - has been replaced by striker Brown Ideye, who plays for French First Division side Sochaux.

Apart from Chelsea’s contributions to the World Cup’s growing star-injuries, Manchester United and, earlier, AC Milan helped out as well when England captain Rio Ferdinand was ruled with a knee ligament injury on Friday and former England captain, David Beckham, was ruled out before the World Cup campaign’s start when he had to undergo surgery after a club match for AC Milan.

If injuries were not enough, many of the national coaches were not to be left behind as England’s Fabio Capello ruled out Theo Walcott when he trimmed his squad while France’s Raymond Domenech, under heavy criticism, left out Real Madrid point-man Karim Benzema, as well as Arsenal’s Samir Nasri.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2010.