كتب : Omar Shoeb
England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson revealed that Rooney has been recovering well from his ankle injury and said that he was going to wait until after the player’s coming scan on June seventh to announce his final decision.
"I've always been confident he will take part in Germany. I've always said that. He's been working really, really hard. Physically he's very good, and he hasn't put on weight," Eriksson was quoted as saying by BBC on Friday.
"I think we have to wait until 7 June when he has the scan. I look forward to that but from tomorrow he will practice with us, with our physios," he added.
The 20-year-old, who picked up the injury in Manchester United’s Premiership match against Chelsea on April 29th, is expected to miss England’s Group B matches and play in the World Cup’s later stages if he recuperates completely from the injury.
Nevertheless, England skipper David Beckham insisted that Rooney was well on the recovery track but said that he mustn’t by overloaded until he fully recuperates.
"He was at the training ground on Thursday and was kicking balls today. It's all good news but we have to be careful with him as well," Beckham said.
On the other hand, the Swede tactician revealed that Tottenham Hotspur’s Jermain Defoe was closer than Everton's Andrew Johnson to stand in for Rooney should the scans show his ineligibility to play.
"We are going to take at least one striker and at this moment it seems to be Defoe," Eriksson said.