By AVI CREDITOR
Tottenham defender Michael Dawson has been tabbed by Fabio Capello to replace Rio Ferdinand, who was ruled out of the World Cup after seriously injuring his knee Friday morning.
Dawson was on Capello's 30-man preliminary roster but was part of the final cuts. Now he'll get the chance to earn his first cap on the world's biggest stage. Early reports suggest that Dawson's Tottenham teammate, Ledley King, will pair with John Terry at central defense in England's World Cup opener against the United States next Saturday.
Steven Gerrard has been given the captain's armband in Ferdinand's stead, becoming the third England captain this year. Terry, the longtime captain, lost the honor to Ferdinand in the aftermath of the Wayne Bridge scandal.
In other soccer news from around the world:
ITALY'S PIRLO A DOUBT
The World Cup injury bug has hit another big name, as Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo is now a doubt for this summer's tournament.
Pirlo injured his left calf in Wednesday's friendly loss to Mexico. According to reports, the team's doctor said that the recovery time for his injury is typically 15-to-20 days, meaning that it's possible for Pirlo to be ready for the Italians' second group-stage match.
He will miss Saturday's friendly with Switzerland but will travel with the team to South Africa, where he will be further evaluated.
EMERTON TO MISS U.S. FRIENDLY
Australian midfielder Brett Emerton will not play in Saturday's friendly against the United States, with the team citing "precautionary measures" as the reason.
Australia coach Pim Verbeek said that he doesn't want to risk any injuries to his key players prior to the World Cup.
ESSIEN SIGNS EXTENSION WITH CHELSEA
Keeping with the theme of injuries and the World Cup, Ghana midfielder Michael Essien, who has already been ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury, has signed a two-year extension with his club team, Chelsea.
The new deal extends Essien's stay at Stamford Bridge to 2015.
FRANCE STUNNED BY CHINA
France's run up to the World Cup got even shakier after Deng Zhou Xiang's 68th-minute free kick provided all the scoring China needed in a 1-0 upset of the European power in their Friday friendly.
Here's video of the shocking goal:
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What do you make of all this injury news so close to the World Cup? Think that Dawson is worthy of a spot on England's roster and that Gerrard is worthy of the captaincy? Disappointed that Australia won't be at full strength for the friendly with the United States? Having doubts about France's ability to get out of Group A?
Share your thoughts below.
Certainly possible. We shall see…
I have the Euro 2008 ball and it knuckles with that exact same kind of movement. I have also played with the new world cup ball as well. The new ball has a bit more movement but it is almost negligible in comparison to the 2008 euro ball. I can’t see this affecting players that much. They have been using balls with similar designs all year in most top leagues around the world. I think it is more of a pre-planned excuse than anything
give me a brake the last few world cups adidas has made the balls and all nike contracted goalies go on record saying the ball sucks. france has to many players not to advance out of group stage. most us media says mexico will struggle and most mex media say usa will struggle but both will advance.
FIFA mandates names in FIFA-sponsored tournaments, along with all squad numbers being between 1-23…friendlies and qualifiers dont count
And years ago people claimed curve balls from the pitcher were an optical illusion. The ball really is a supermarket ball because it moves so erratically.
Video wasn’t too flattering. Looked a lot more like he just got elbowed in the face and then let his lady break it up.
Also, there’s a link to an article on that page which says Roy Hodgson is the favorite to replace Benitez at Liverpool.
Gerrard is a piece of garbage, just like Terry and Ferdinand…Obviously, you have to be a wannabee thug to be captain of England…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/sportvideo/5886439/Video-CCTV-of-Steven-Gerrard-nightclub-brawl.html
Hey Gerrard, come try that sh*t in the U.S.!!!
There is no way China should have won. They were playing lÃke the 1990 U.S. World Cup team barely being able to get past midfield with the ball and never getting in scoring range except for that one free kick and that crazy ball.
France just could not get that goal despite so many close calls. With that ball we are going to see a lot more long range shots
I don’t know. I think a lot of shots players just take to keep the keeper honest are going to be way more dangerous.
Some countries just don’t have names on their jerseys, ever (there are probably varying reasons why, my guess is they think it’s about representing the country and not the individuals).
You must’ve been watching the friendlies featuring those teams, and they will not have names during the World Cup either. Other countries always have names, have had them during the friendlies, and will have them during the Cup.
I hate the French, but remember they were ranked as high as 27th before they won in 1998. Just sayin.
Losing to China? Really? France will finish last in Group A.
I haven’t seem any teams with names on the back of their jerseys in friendlies for the past few months. Is there a reason behind this?
I hate to see any good players go down just before the World Cup. All the best should be there, it is sad when dreams get dashed at the last minute.
Here’s to the US playing well AND staying healthy!
Wow. The movement of the ball on that goal concerns me. And not just for goalkeepers. How are strikers supposed to judge the flight of crosses? I don’t even think this is going to result in many more goals – I think it’s just going to be messy.
That ball had more movement than a Tim Wakefield knuckler! Sick! On the first replay from behind the goal, I thought it took a deflection and that’s what wrong footed the keeper. But damn, the ball started curving one way, then just shot back the other way! There are going to be a ton of long range shots in this WC. But I think for every freak goal, we’re going to see a freak miss where a ball destined for the upper corner knuckles wide or over.
The ball had a lot of spin on it. I didn’t see a deflection.
I was watching on ESPN2 HD and they replayed it multiple times and there was no deflection. It cleared the wall easily.
Or just Bornstein, by himself vs. Australia
Actually if you watch closely, it looks like the ball deflected off of a head in the wall. You can’t blame adidas for that…
Dawson has been playing better than Ferdinand this year anyways, not really a benefit for the US. At least Terry is expected to start and he’s mediocre at best.
Yes they are, and yes.
Are teams not allowed to have names on the back of jerseys during friendlies? Will they have the names on for the world cup?
Damn chinese bastards.
they say that every year with every new WC ball…
Slovenia up 3-1 at half, 2 goals coming off of free kicks. More ball fun?
I’d feel guilty for a millisecond.
That ball movement was 100% unnatural.
Wow, just wow.
We are going to see a whole lot of undeserved goals.
1) If Lippi was smart he would bring Rossi
2) France will not get out of their group. More than 3 points will be a shocker for France
haha, a point is a point (or 3)
I’ve heard that the ball appears to flutter but that it actually doesn’t move that differently. So basically the ball moves the same but it looks different which causes different reactions. This makes sense if you look at Lloris’ reactions he takes a first step the wrong way and then breaks too late towards the ball. Of course looking different will indeed lead to more goals as a lot of goalkeepers will likely misplay balls they would normally handle.
hahahaha U see Lloris’s face he can’t believe what just happened !!!
As Bismarck or Kaiser Wilhelm would have said…
Frankreich ist kaput in der Fussballweltmeisterschaft.
Then again, “Frankreich” ist kaput in more ways than one … and not just in soccer, either….
Dear Bob- Play the coaching staff tomorrow. Thanks, USA fans.
It would feel a little cheap to beat England with Rooney out injured. Wait, no it wouldn’t 🙂
Yea, there’s going to be alot of goals at this world cup. I’ve played with that ball and it is so light. The ball just knuckles when you hit it hard. Fun for me.
The U.S. need to be careful in their last friendly-nock on wood.
Oh wow. Gonna be a lot of goals.
Oh yes! Now all we need is for Rooney to get hurt and its on!
Here’s to hoping that we get out of that game tomorrow without any injuries
Check out the movement on that free kick. That’s a pretty good example of why goal keepers are flipping out about the ball.
It looked like someone had a string on that ball.
Credit to the guy who took the kick, still not quite buying all the GK complaints, but… wow. Jabulani?
Pirlo isn’t nearly as good as he once was. This is a blessing in disguise for Italy that were living and dying with Pirlo.