England captain Rio Ferdinand will miss the World Cup after suffering a knee injury in training on Friday morning. His absence has been confirmed by the Football Association and Michael Dawson will now fly out to replace him.
England had been relieved to see Gareth Barry return to training at their Rustenburg camp and the midfielder could be in contention to feature in the country's opening game against USA on June 12, but preparations took a worrying turn when Ferdinand suffered the problem towards the end of the session in a challenge with Emile Heskey.
The Manchester United defender was taken to hospital to assess the problem and left on crutches. It was confirmed that Ferdinand has suffered ligament damage, ruling him out for between four and six weeks.
Ferdinand suffered extensively from injuries at Old Trafford last season and was able to start only 12 Premier League games as various fitness problems took their toll.
However, Barry's return is a grain of positive news for England as the midfielder had been a doubt to make the squad due to an ankle injury sustained in a Premier League game against Tottenham on May 5.
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