Monday 15 March 2010

No World Cup for Beckham

David Beckham's dream of playing in a fourth World Cup looks over after he tore an Achilles tendon in AC Milan's 1-0 win over Chievo on Sunday. Beckham was unchallenged when he suffered the injury and hobbled off in pain before being stretchered away. The 34-year-old was hoping to be part of England's World Cup squad in June, but instead will fly to Finland on Monday for specialist surgery.















 "A rupture of the Achilles tendon is suspected," said an AC Milan statement. Beckham, who is in his second loan stint with Milan from the Los Angeles Galaxy, will now almost certainly not be fit for the World Cup in South Africa which starts on 11 June. AC Milan team-mate Ignazio Abate said the England star was inconsolable. "He's not doing well. He was in tears in the dressing room, he wasn't saying a lot. This has affected us all," said Abate.

Former Manchester United star Beckham, England's most capped outfield player with 115 appearances, was bidding to become the first England player to feature in four successive World Cup finals. He shares the record of three with Bobby Moore and Peter Shilton.