Republic of Ireland full-back Stephen Carr revealed today he has known for over a week that he will definitely miss this summer's World Cup.
The twenty-five year old flew to Colorado last week to seek the advice of American specialist Dr Richard Steadman, and was "massively disappointed" to be told he will need another two to three months to recover from the knee injury which has kept him out of first team, and even reserve, football for almost a year.
Nevertheless, the Dubliner told Tottenham Hotspur's official website that he has digested his dismay and is now focusing on getting fit for the next Premiership season: "The World Cup's gone and it's now about getting myself fit and playing football again," he said, "I knew my season more or less had gone at Tottenham so I just wanted to get fit, play a couple of games and get into the World Cup squad but it's not to be for me this time."
Just four weeks ago, Carr had been optimistic about his chances of making soccer's greatest showpiece, and had even informed Ireland boss Mick McCarthy that he was about to play in a reserve match. However, he never got to play in that game as the injury re-surfaced.
"It just came on," he explained. "The original operation I had is okay. I just aggravated it and had inflamation in there and unfortunately with the knee, it takes a long time for it to settle down and you have to let it settle down or it will just keep coming back and get worse.
"I was doing well in training. I felt really, really good.
"That's the problem. You can't take anything for granted coming back from an injury because you can go from being brilliant to really poor. That's what happened with me. "
"Any niggle can set you back. The surgeon said it's only a minor problem though and I now have to be patient.
"The worst thing is that there is a World Cup at the end of the season. "
"It's a blow being injured again but because you miss a World Cup it makes it even harder to take. "
"For the last six weeks it's been hard. One minute I think I'm going tothe World Cup, the next I don't and I've been up and down like a yo-yo. But it's not to be and I know where I stand now.
"I've got my head around it now and the most important thing is to get back playing football again. "
Carr was outstanding in the first three qualifying matches of Ireland's World Cup campaign, and despite missing the remaining matches with his damaged knee, had been assured by McCarthy that he would travel to Japan if fit.