Soccer: Injury again hits England squad

SEOGWIPO - England's World Cup injury curse struck again yesterday when Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy suffered a foot injury in training and required a bone scan.

The Football Association said it was too early to know the extent of the damage and whether Murphy, the fifth England midfielder to be injured, would be ruled out of the finals, which start next Friday.

Originally a standby, Murphy was promoted into the squad of 23 after Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard was ruled out by injury.

Three other midfielders in the squad at Seogwipo - skipper David Beckham, who is recovering from a broken bone in his foot, and Kieron Dyer and Nicky Butt, who both have knee problems - are also battling to be fit.

In a bitter twist for England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, Murphy's injury came just hours after he had allowed his standby, West Ham midfielder Trevor Sinclair, to return home to London.

When Murphy fell, Sinclair would have been in the air - after overriding Eriksson's initial suggestion that he stay on as a precaution.

The injury also came hours after Eriksson told a news conference that Beckham, Butt and Dyer could all potentially miss the finals.

Asked at the time whether England's chances of success at the finals had been damaged by the injuries, Eriksson said: "If you miss one of your key players, that might be okay.

"If you miss two or three, that of course lessens your chances.

"But that's football and let's hope ... that we will not have any more problems."

Murphy, who would have been competing with Butt and Owen Hargreaves for a place in central midfield, will have little time to recover from his injury. England open their campaign in group F against Sweden on June 2.

World champions France issued a statement yesterday playing down the gravity of Thierry Henry's knee injury after speculation that the Arsenal striker might be forced to pull out of the finals.

The statement, which insisted that the player's World Cup was not in doubt for the time being, came after a despondent France coach Roger Lemerre had given him until Sunday to prove his fitness.

Henry was unable to take part in a training match against Japanese league side Urawa Reds yesterday that France won 5-1 with a hat-trick from Youri Djorkaeff.

But Lemerre had good news when playmaker Zinedine Zidane arrived at France's Ibusuki training camp in Japan after attending the birth of his third son on Sunday.

Ireland captain Roy Keane, who just two days ago threatened to leave the team, said yesterday that he would retire from international soccer after the cup.

Keane, 30, almost walked out of the Ireland camp after a reported run-in with an assistant coach and concerns about an injured knee.

Coach Mick McCarthy called up Colin Healy to replace Keane after he said he was leaving. Yesterday, McCarthy had to call Healy back after Keane changed his mind and decided to stay.

Ireland, playing in group E, open their World Cup on June 1 against Cameroon in Niigata, Japan. Germany and Saudi Arabia are also in the group.

Keane, the Manchester United captain, has complained about training camp facilities in Saipan, but said that was just the "tip of the iceberg."

"I've come over here to do well and I want people around me to want to do well," Keane said. "If I feel we're not all wanting the same things, there's no point. It's been going on a while.

"It's the whole fact of being away. I'm banging my head against a brick wall regarding certain issues about this trip."

- AGENCIES

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