Munich: When one man scores 34 in a season with a month and a half still to go, he surely will be the most important part of your team. Wayne Rooney has been just that for Manchester United, and when he was carried off against Bayern Munich last night with a seemingly badly injured ankle, the concern on Sir Alex Ferguson and his management staff was there for all to see.
To add insult to injury, in the same passage of play of Rooney’s injury, Ivica Olic scored the winner for Bayern to steer the German side to a 2-1 win over the English champions.
Rooney was trod on accidentally by Mario Gomez and the striker immediately went to ground in pain. He was immediately given treatment and went of the field, supported by two others.
Pictures later showed Rooney leaving the Allianz Arena in crutches, along with wearing a protective boot on his injured right foot.
The England international is set to go through an MRI scan today, and the news of the real nature of the injury will be known only tomorrow.
Rooney missed the game at the weekend away at Bolton due to a bruised foot, but started the game against Bayern very much like his old self, getting on the scoresheet after just 66 seconds, to put united one up.
The striker looked lively throughout the game, and with Chelsea coming up on Saturday, he was sure to be the first name on Sir Alex Ferguson’s teamsheet.
In the dying seconds of the game though, disaster struck, when Gomez ran forward and Rooney went in to challenge. The German’s stud caught Rooney right on the ankle, with the injury looking to be quite serious.
Reports suggest that he is almost sure to miss the game against Chelsea, and will also be a major doubt for next week’s return leg against Bayern Munich at Old Trafford. Bayern go into that game with a slender advantage and with Dutch winger Arjen Robben all set to feature in that one, Rooney will be dearly missed.
On a larger scale, if reports show a broken ankle, Rooney may miss the whole or a part of the World Cup in South Africa, starting this June.
With David Beckham already ruled out with an Achilles injury, fans will be praying that Rooney makes it.
There were already concerns over his fitness as he was carrying a knee injury which was said to be aggravating by the day.
Rooney was England’s joint top-scorer with Frank Lampard in their qualifying campaign and was voted England’s Player of The Year for 2009.
Sir Alex said after the game, “Wayne has hurt his ankle. It’s too early to say the condition of it but we will know tomorrow.”
The result of the scan will be highly anticipated by both Manchester United and England fans alike, but the other teams will have an eye on it too.
This is certainly not the right time for this to happen from the Manchester United perspective, with the season entering the crucial final stage, and Michael Owen also sidelined with injury.
Source: Football Tickets Articles – 1ticketlive.com
