By AVI CREDITOR
Ledley King's World Cup appears to be over after suffering a groin injury against the United States on Saturday. Early reports suggest that he'll have to miss at least three weeks while recovering.
King started alongside John Terry at central defense but was substituted for at halftime. Jamie Carragher replaced King for the second half against the Americans and figures to get the start against Algeria on Friday. Michael Dawson and Matthew Upson are other alternatives at the position for Fabio Capello.
In addition to King, Wayne Rooney and Ashley Cole also sat out Monday's training session, though both are fully expected to play against Algeria. Rooney picked up a knock after being kicked in the ankle, but the injury doesn't appear to be serious, according to multiple reports.
Midfielder Gareth Barry did participate in full training and is set to return for the Three Lions after missing the opening match of the World Cup.
Here are a few more stories from around the soccer world:
RALSTON DISLOCATES ELBOW IN REVS FRIENDLY
Steve Ralston's return to the New England Revolution hardly went as the team had hoped.
Ralston entered the Revolution's friendly with Brazilian side Cruzeiro Sunday night in the 72nd minute and had to be subbed off just a couple minutes later after dislocating his left elbow. It's unclear how much time he will have to miss.
Khano Smith was also injured (ankle) during the 3-0 loss in which Cruzeiro striker Welington Paulista netted a hat trick in front of more than 12,000 at Gillette Stadium.
The good news for the Revs is that goalkeeper Matt Reis returned to goal for the first time this season after recovering from shoulder and knee injuries. He played 45 minutes and appears to be ready to reclaim the starting role once Major League Soccer play resumes.
Here are some highlights from the match (injuries not shown):
VUVUZELAS WON'T BE BANNED
The soundtrack to the World Cup won't be changing after all. Despite reports that World Cup officials were considering banning vuvuzelas from the tournament's matches, that won't be the case.
Several players and broadcasters have voiced their complaints about how the noise affects concentration and the ability to hear, but all parties will have to figure out a way to deal with the iconic noise of the tournament.
Officials considered banning the horns after last summer's Confederation Cup before concluding otherwise.
ROSELL ELECTED AS NEW BARCA PRESIDENT
Joan Laporta's successor as president of FC Barcelona has been selected, as Sandro Rosell won the club's election by receiving more than 61 percent of the votes.
Rosell will have big shoes to fill, as Laporta, who took over in 2003, oversaw a team that won two UEFA Champions League titles and four La Liga crowns. Among objects on Rosell's agenda, reportedly, are signing coach Pep Guardiola to a long-term contract and renovating Camp Nou.
SCOLARI RETURNS TO PALMEIRAS
Former Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari is returning to Brazil to become the manager of Palmeiras for a second time. Scolari had a strong run with the club more than a decade ago, winning the Copa Libertadores in 1999.
He was most recently with Uzbekistan side Bunyodkor after a disappointing stint at Stamford Bridge.
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Do you think Carragher should get another crack at centerback for England? Sad to see Ralston's comeback go as it did? Happy to hear that the vuvuzelas won't be going anywhere?
Share your thoughts below.
Heskey did not tackle Howard with his studs up.
By definition, you can only tackle someone who has possession of the ball and when Heskey went into his slide to get to the ball, Howard was not yet in possession of the ball. I’m not sure that pushing a shot away even qualifies as having possession.
It’s like hitting the goal keeper with your follow through on your shot. They were both going for the ball. It would have been different if Howard had possesion of the ball Before Heskey went after it but he did not.
No foul.
Sorry, no offense intended. I just always thought pacey wingers was an amusing way of putting it.
There’s nothing wrong with thinking that “players who routinely turn fullbacks in knots in the Premier League would cause Boca and Cherundelo problems” but by the same token, there is no reason to make more of it than it is either.
Boca and Cherundolo face speedy wingers all the time. The way you deal with that is by taking account of it in your defensive scheme.
As I said before you don’t necessarily counter speed with speed,otherwise just put Bornstein on Lennon; you have to be smart and discilplined and rely on help from your teamates, something a guy like Boca is better at than Bornstein. Lennon can’t hurt you if he doesn’t get the ball in the first place or gets in in positions where his marker has a lot of help.
If you watched Dolo he initiated a lot of our offesne, was very careful with the ball always made sure it got put to the best use and then got back or made sure he was covered. You’ll notice that his man, Milner and then SWP didn’t do much, other than SWP’s shot which was pretty well covered and harmless. Basically England had to worry more about what Dolo was doing rather than what SWP was doing.