The latest World Cup news is not good from the injury front. 2 nations with aspirations for a strong showing - England and Ivory Coast - both suffered major blows to these aspirations. The Three Lions may not have their captain and central defender Rio Ferdinand who left training after a crashing into Heskey during practice. The Manchester United player suffered what appears to be a knee injury that will rule him out of the World Cup. This would be devastating news for England. The one area that England had many questions was the central defense and goalkeeper. Terry and Ferdinand are solid defenders but both have had issues this season with performance and health, now England will have to go with a second choice center back to shoulder Terry and lose there captain.
The Ivory Coast may also be without their captain - Didier Drogba. The Chelsea striker appears to have broken his arm during a friendly against Japan. With the elephants having to compete in the "Group of Death" they will be hard pressed to advance without their top striker. There remains a chance that he will be able to play, but does not sound positive.
Add these injuries to the loss of Ballack and Essein (there are also a handful of Spaniards - Cesc and Torres - that are injured but should all be at the World Cup), and your injury list is starting to look like a team that would advance to the semi finals on its own. These injuries will test their respective nation's depth and the managers ability to manage their strategies and squads.
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Throw into the list the latest that Pirlo might miss a significant portion of the games due to a leg strain. Yet another big name that might miss out.
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