Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand were poised to do big things at this summer's World Cup. Ferdinand as the new captain of England and Drogba as the face of this African World Cup.
A pair of major injuries have scrapped those plans, with Ferdinand already ruled out of the World Cup and Drogba considering emergency surgery on his broken arm to have him back in time for the latter part of the group stages.
Assuming Drogba can't return, today's injuries will put major hitches in the grand plans of both England and the Ivory Coast. England is still favored to advance to the knockout round, but talk of a potential World Cup title will diminish, while Ivory Coast looks like an even less likely candidate to emerge from a brutal group that incldues Brazil and Portugal.
What do you think England and Ivory Coast can do this World Cup without their leading men? Think England can reach the final? See Ivory Coast advancing, or have today's injuries dashed those hopes?
Share your thoughts below.
Then you have to wonder who does justify being a favorite. France just lost to China after a tie with Tunisia. Italy lost to Mexico 2-1 and tied Switzerland 1-1 in their last two games. Spain just scraped by South Korea 1-0 with a goal in the last five minutes, and in the game before that squeaked by Saudi Arabia 3-2. Portugal recently tied the Cape Verde Islands. Netherlands and South Africa seem hot, but it looks like the Netherlands just lost Arjen Robben.
To: fredflintstone61@hotmail.com
Its sad that you think this is interesting. Inflated egos having quasi-tantrums over astronomically unlikely predictions. Onyewu is not ready. Drogba’s loss. Upson, Carragher, England is going home in the second round… I’m with Austin, the pitch will reveal it all to us. What a bunch of clowns! Stop watching Fox News and get with reality: there are uncertainties. There are surprises and upsets. There called upsets because millions of d-bags realize that in the end they are just full of shite and wasting their time not getting behind their team and hoping for the UNLIKELY…the hardware.
I have no idea what you are saying. Your writing is impossible to read.
ohh, the spelling no knowledge double, the last resort. When he played is the point, the others must be so poor that Fabio does know what he is doing, to steal your own arguement.
Ya!! I woke up at 5 for this and nothing?!?
WHAT? NO USA-AUSTRALIA MATCHDAY COMMENTARY? COME ON!
Gimme a qualifying group like theirs and I’d blitz through it. They were in a fairly week group and did what they were supposed to do.
Last year with both teams at full strength, we beat Spain and barely lost to Brazil. Based on this logic we should be ranked alot higher and a favorite. We also won our group in qualifying.
All I’m saying is that people need to stop making the three Lions a favorite when they’ve done nothing recently to justify it.
England’s marketing machine is one to be admired. They seem to do one hell of a job on the rest of the world and especially Americans.
man…F! Ferdinand and Drogba!! It’s all about Torres, Donovan, Dempsey and Herculez!!
F! England! Let’s dominate these guys!
C’mon USA!!
Well, lets see. Right off the bat, Ferdinand missed almost half of the England world cup qualifiers. England won all of them. The one qualifier that they lost Ferdinand played. He also missed one of Englands three friendlies this year against African champions and FIFA #12 ranked Egypt. They won 3-1.
To: fredflintstone61@hotmail.com
Indeed, a loss for Africa. Added onto Essien missing the Finals, which is a massive blow to Ghana. It’s never good for someone to go down with an injury this late in the game, after all the work and preparation put in.
me too!!!! I’m worried
you never really know
Don’t really know much or care about ferdinand…but what a blow didier is to, not only the entire continent of africa, but the entire world as he was the face of african soccer in the first world cup in africa… I hope he recovers, that would make his story even better.
I have a question that has really got me wondering, sorry if it is off topic… But is Brad Guzan the future of our GK’s? I mean, he is young for a keeper, but will we see him starting for villa or another top 4
And I never said they are “so bad”. What I do believe is that they could be an achilles heal for England late in the tournament against top sides.
Fantastic without Ferdinand? Which matches are you talking about? When have they had to depend on King/Upson/Carra in meaningful matches against top level sides?
Sadly, it’s all about sensationalism the closer we creep to World Cup kickoff. Losing Rio does not hurt England’s chances. Yes, he was the captain, but he is also the weakest part of the English squad. His fitness has been questionable all season and even if fully fit, he’s lost a step.
What now for England? Gosh, I think they’ll still win their group as expected.
England has done fantastic without Ferdinand so these defenders that play instead of him that you think are so bad can’t be doing that much harm, can they?
Who are you? Do you change your name every day in hope that no one will realize you’re the same old a*shole time and time again?
I’m sorry but Portugal is not that good. They will have to be a h*** of a lot more consistent if they expect to advance. They couldn’t score against the Cape Verde Islands but they beat a fairly strong Cameroon side pretty soundly. They’re inconsistent at best, but I guess so is the USMNT.
For me having Rio F in the game wasn’t too bad since he’s prone to gaffs and bonehead plays. Ledley King seems more dangerous offensively on set pieces but USA would benefit if his knees can’t hold up. USA’s speed will create problems for Carragher and probably King too…
all kinds of balls can swerve like that, looks like the chinese player just struck the ball really well. take a chill pill about the ball already…
Nope. Rio, when healthy this year, was better than Carra and Upson (they were both very poor). You obviously didn’t watch much EPL soccer this year, or are just being disagreeable.
Ever defender on the roster has been in better form that Rio, since say, the start of the EPL season. Period, injuries granted, but the cold hard true.
Nothing better than a poster talking about a lack of knowledge who can’t even spell…
Well, you may prefer Dawson, but Capello likely doesn’t (considering he cut him from the original 23)…
As far as knowledge of the game, what a overused tripe on the comments I so often see here, cheap cop out for a different opinion than yours. Then again I think your the no knowledge twit.
I would have Dawson over any of the above. I have been following him since his Forest days, the club I support.
ahhhhh! beat me to it!
drogba is the real loss, team is screwed. england losing rio doesnt really matter
someone 99% as good as him will fill in
how does losing one defender affect ur chances of winning the wc u noob ives…
It was not deflected but people are also not taking into account that the Chinese player used the Ronaldo (Christiano) method of hitting the valve of the ball which in turn makes it knuckle in crazy ways…I think ball does funny things but I also think the players are getting better and better at making the ball move and dance..
It really frustrates me when people say someone getting injured is a blessing in disguise. Do you guys really think you know more than Capello? If Rio wasn’t the best option, you think Capello would play him? In no world is it a blessing for your captain to be injured.
Haha your comments always make me laugh. Once again..troll.
Let me put this in simple terms for you mojo. The reason this is not a blessing in disguise for England is because it increases the chances that Upson or Carragher have to step on the field in the WC. No, Ferdinand did not have a great year and probably isn’t the same player he was a year or two ago, but if I was an England fan I would much rather have him on the field than either of those two, and given King’s knee issues, the chances that one of them will have to play increased a lot today.
People who say that his loss is a blessing don’t understand anything about the game and more specifically the other center backs on England’s roster.
Guys who think Rio’s lose isn’t a blessing in disguise for England are the type I want in my roto leagues. Picking on name and form from 2-3 years ago and not NOW, kitty feeders.
Sad to say same goes for Gooch (not forever, just now, at the worst time)
What’s next for England? Same as always, they are going home after the second round. All full of excuses
You all need to stop acting like England is a soccer powerhouse. They are NOT.Never have been.
Blessing in disguise??? That’s just silly. Now England is depending on a defender with chronic knee problems who is backed up by two defenders who had poor years for their respective clubs. Not exactly the best situation for a team that expects to make it far in the competition.
As for Gooch, that may be true, but it still remains to be seen. And a less than 100% Gooch may still be better than our other options. Sad, but true…
Sigh. I thought it was pretty clear. I think Onyewu is not ready and is more likely to hurt our chances than help them. I think Ferdinand may not be ready either and it could be a blessing in disguise for them not having the option to use him. Same type of situation.
I don’t remember who was playing in the last couple of games versus Mexico and Japan but England’s backline looked like shite throughout both of those games.
U-S-A!!!
Not dumb at all, it’s an interesting topic to discuss (and FYI, use spell check next time you post).
England will be fine without Rio.
Jabroni? Hahaha