England curses Beckham's bad break

Beckham's injury leaves England's World Cup hopes in turmoil

LONDON, England -- English football fans are in despair after it was confirmed that national team captain David Beckham could miss the World Cup finals because of a broken foot.

Beckham broke a bone in his foot as Manchester United beat Spanish side Deportivo Coruna in the Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday.

Asked if he thought the 26-year-old midfielder would play in the World Cup, United manager Alex Ferguson said: "I think it's doubtful.

"He will be disappointed. You saw the pain he was in. It has been an unfortunate tie for him but he is young, there will be other campaigns and he will play in the European Cup again."

"He has broken a metatarsus [bone] in his foot and will be out for six to eight weeks. It was a bad tackle but games of football are about tackles and the player had to go for it."

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The injury, sustained in a tackle by Deportivo's Argenintian striker Aldo Duscher 16 minutes into United's 3-2 win at Old Trafford, is a shattering blow to England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson's plans.

Britain's newspapers were in agreement on Thursday that the injury was terrible news for England's Cup hopes. "Our worst nightmare," screamed The Mirror in a back-page headline.

The tabloid added: "Eriksson must now embark on what can only be described as Mission: Impossible -- the task of rearranging his plans to compensate for the loss of the man he has built his entire England side around."

The Sun, Britain's top-selling daily, reflected that it was devastating for Beckham, but was optimistic that "one of sport's great miracle workers" could recover.

"His epic never-say-die goal in the last seconds against Greece showed how the impossible can be achieved if you work hard enough for it.

"Let's hope the same determination helps Becks overcome the bone fracture in his foot in time to play a part in England's campaign."

Fitness test

England's first World Cup game is on June 2 against Sweden in Saitama, Japan, but under FIFA rules each country in the finals must name their 23-man squad by May 21.

If Beckham is not fit by then, Eriksson could name him in the England squad and hope he recovers in time to play in the later games. England play Argentina on June 7 and Nigeria on June 12 in their two other group F games. If England reach the second round they will play that game on either June 15 or 16.

Beckham was taken to hospital for an x-ray after the tackle in the second leg match on Wednesday. He went off clutching the same left ankle that was bruised by a late tackle from Deportivo's Diego Tristan in the last minute of last week's first leg in Spain.

Beckham was playing at Old Trafford only after passing a late fitness test on the ankle but Deportivo coach Javier Irureta, who said he missed Duscher's tackle, denied his team had targeted the England man.

"We didn't single out Beckham for any special treatment. It was not the sort of tackle you expect from Tristan [last week] and we all hope David Beckham is back on the field for Manchester United soon."

Duscher, who was not booked for what the Daily Telegraph described as a "brutal challenge," told the paper: "Because it's David Beckham and because he is a great player everything is bigger.

"The media and the public give too much importance to the things around him. It was unfortunate and I can honestly say it was an accident -- I went for the ball."

United's 3-2 win gave them a 5-2 aggregate victory and a place in the semifinals against Bayer Leverkusen.

Earlier on Wednesday fellow-England player Michael Owen's feared broken foot was discovered to be merely bruising.

Focus on other players

Merchandise deals are not likely to suffer by Beckham's injury, Stephen Cheliotis from the independent UK branding firm Superbrands told CNN.

"Brands such as Pepsi and Adidas are not only reliant of Beckham as a sportsman. They are also reliant on him as a personality who reflect their own brand values"

He added: "A lot of brands have sponsored the English football team and they may now have a contingency plan where they re-focus their efforts to other players within the team."