England preparation suffers setback

England 1 Belarus 2:  England lost to 10-man Belarus in a  'B' international tonight that was marred by a serious injury to …

England 1 Belarus 2:  England lost to 10-man Belarus in a  'B' international tonight that was marred by a serious injury to goalkeeper Robert Green.

Jermaine Jenas gave England a 35th minute lead but Vitaly Kutuzov scored a freak equaliser in the 50th minute when Green, England's third-choice keeper for the World Cup, collapsed in agony with a ruptured groin as he took a goal-kick.

The miscued kick went straight to the Belarus forward who, with Green lying on the floor, sent the ball into an empty net - to widespread boos from the crowd.

Green, who had only taken over from David James five minutes earlier, was carried off on a stretcher grimacing with pain and will miss the finals.  Scott Carson, England's standby keeper for Germany, replaced him between the posts.

Belarus finished the game with 10 men after a red card in the 73rd minute for Sergei Omelyanchuk but it did not prevent substitute Sergei Kornilenko from scoring an slick 80th minute winner.

  • Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date

  • What’s making headlines in the rugby world? Listen to The Counter Ruck podcast with Nathan Johns

  • Sign up for push alerts to get the best breaking news, analysis and comment delivered to your phone