More World Cup injury fears - Rooney out?

Anyone watching the weekend's match between Tottenham and Manchester United noticed that Rooney was watching the match from a luxury box and not on the pitch due to a lingering groin injury. Couple this with his lingering ankle injury and questions are beginning to creep that his place on the English plane to South Africa might be in jeopardy. With the tournament starting on June 12th for England which is 6 weeks away I think that there is plenty of time for the English striker to recover his health. Rooney has had a fantastic season and clearly is the key to England's ability to go far in South Africa this summer. This is not like a few years ago when he broke a bone in his foot, something that takes much longer to recover from.

I doubt Rooney will be left off Capello's list regardless of whether or not he is 100% healthy. However it should be a concern if Rooney is not 100% healthy for the tournament. Fortunately for England they have a group that should be easily won and could see Rooney being rested by the last group match. I think that England know they are playing their place in the first match versus the United States. If they get 3 points from that they should be clear leaders for first place in the group. This means Capello could look to have Rooney give it his all in the first match and then use him strategically for the following two matches assuming the proper result comes from the US game.

The injuries continue to mount for players...success might shine on the nation with the fewest injured stars!