England captain Rio Ferdinand has been ruled out of his record equalling fourth world cup. He was injured in the last minute of the first England training session.

The session was designed to sharpen the ball winning skills of the defenders and hone the ball keeping ability of the forward players. While tackling Emile Heskey the Manchester United defender’s studs stuck in the turf helping to cause the ligament damage to his knee.

Ferdinand has been as fragile as a chocolate fireguard all season playing just a handful of games for his club this season as he spent most of the season injured with a persistent back problem. Even when he did play he was a shadow of his former self, in the Manchester derby he gave the ball away to Bellamy and was unable to recover as he once could. This poor form was a problem that many thought should have kept him out of Capello’s squad. However his place was sealed after former captain John Terry’s Bridgegate incident.

Capello will have decide who to bring in to his squad as a fit and able replacement for Rio and who will captain his troops during the up coming tournament.