SOCCER: Wayne Rooney will be on the plane when England's team fly out to the World Cup finals on Monday week, but soon after he will be on a plane back to Manchester to undergo a final scan that will determine whether he will take any part in the competition.
If the tests, which will be conducted on June 14th, the day before England are due to meet Trinidad & Tobago in their second group match, are clear, Rooney will be permitted to resume full training. His target would then be to get match-fit in the next 10 days and be available for a possible quarter-final on June 30th or July 1st.
If X-rays show the injury has not completely healed, Alex Ferguson will order him to pull out.
Thursday's scan was described as "encouraging news" by England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson yesterday, and an indignant Ferguson argued that it was unfair to say he did not want Rooney to be involved in the World Cup. The United manager spoke at length with Eriksson yesterday, although the two men still have their differences.
Ferguson, however, offered an indication of what may be to come when he publicly declared it would be "impossible" for Rooney to return to Germany if the next scan showed anything but a full recovery. Always one to get his retaliation in first, Ferguson warned there was "an inclination to be too optimistic", and said he was exasperated by inaccurate reports of the striker's recovery being ahead of schedule.
"The scan quite clearly shows that the fracture has not healed," he said. "The next scan is the key one. Hopefully the fracture will have completely healed by June 14th but, if not, then it's impossible.
"Wayne has a determination about him and he's a brave lad, but there has to be a complete recovery, because it's not an easy injury - anyone who has had it will know that.
"The last time Wayne did it, he was out for 14 weeks. David Beckham was out for eight weeks and Gary Neville had to have his foot pinned (missing four and a half months). Everyone has seen how long it has taken Michael Owen to come back (five months). So we have to tread carefully."
United would not have the power under Fifa rules to withdraw Rooney themselves, but Ferguson's record suggests he would think nothing about instructing his player to make the decision himself. He will act on advice from the club's doctor Tony Gill, who may travel to Bavaria to work on Rooney's rehabilitation alongside the England doctor, Leif Sward.
Dealing with Ferguson can be a delicate issue for any national coach and Eriksson was anxious not to say anything that could be construed as even mildly critical. "Despite all the speculation, there has been very positive dialogue with Manchester United. We are very grateful for the support that they have given Wayne. There is no problem whatsoever. The only problem is that Wayne has a bad foot."
A similar message was conveyed by Ferguson, who reiterated what United have been saying all week about the sacking from their medical staff of Mike Stone, namely that it had nothing to do with Rooney. Their dispute was acrimonious and ended with only one winner, as tends to be the case with Ferguson, but it was simply about the number of hours Stone was devoting to outside work.
The way has been cleared for Andriy Shevchenko to join Chelsea after Milan failed to convince the striker to sign a new contract.
Shevchenko (29), scored 173 goals for Milan - the second top-scorer in the history of the club after Gunnar Nordhal - and helped them win the Champions League in 2003 and the Scudetto in 2004.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is reportedly ready to meet Milan's valuation of around £35 million (€50 million) after failing to recruit Shevchenko on three occasions since he took over at Stamford Bridge in 2003. ... Guardian Service
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)