Feeling the pain: Chelsea will assess injured
Ashley Cole after the left-back suffered a 'nasty ankle knock'
during the defeat at Everton
Ashley Cole is facing World Cup heartbreak after being
ruled out for the rest of the season. And his broken ankle seems
set to force Fabio Capello to bring Wayne Bridge into England's
defence alongside John Terry, the man who had an infamous affair
with the Manchester City full back's former partner.
Cole limped out of Chelsea's 2-1 defeat at Everton on Wednesday
night after being caught on his left ankle by on-loan USA star
Landon Donovan. He now faces a race to be fit to face Donovan again
in England's opening group game in South Africa against the United
States on June 12.
The pair have been at odds following Terry's alleged
affair with Bridge's former partner Vanessa Perroncel, the mother
of the former Chelsea full-back's son.
Aside from the potential loss of a player widely regarded as the
best left back in the world, Capello must now decide if he can risk
playing Bridge and Terry together, given the bad blood caused by
the affair.
The news is also a severe blow to Chelsea manager Carlo
Ancelotti, who will have to cope without one of his most consistent
performers for the title run-in and the club's assault on the
Champions League.
Yuri Zhirkov is the obvious stand-in at Chelsea but Capello has
a far tougher selection conundrum, given the furore caused by
Terry's liaison with Vanessa Perroncel.
Terry, who was stripped of the England captaincy by Capello
because of the affair, has flown to Dubai to be with his wife Toni
and will miss Chelsea's FA Cup fifth-round tie with Cardiff
tomorrow after being given leave to try to patch up his
marriage.
Moment of horror: Ashley Cole's World Cup hopes
were ironically plunged into doubt by Landon Donovan - the man set
to lead USA against England in June
Capello must decide whether to select Bridge, who has
recently returned for Manchester City after a two month lay-off
with a knee injury, for England's friendly against Egypt at Wembley
on March 3. The alternative would be to pick Everton's Leighton
Baines or Stephen Warnock of Aston Villa, who is currently
sidelined with a shin injury.
Bridge has been told he could jeopardise his chances of playing
in the World Cup if he ducks out of the Egypt game. After taking
such a tough stance with Terry last week, Capello has demanded that
his players show their professionalism by moving on from the
controversy.
Cole is expected to be in plaster for around a month and if he
is unable to play for Chelsea before the end of the season, his
World Cup hopes would seem to rest on his proving his fitness in
England's pre-tournament friendlies, which are expected to be
against Mexico at Wembley on May 24 followed by a game against
Japan in Austria.
Ancelotti said: 'He has a big problem, probably out for three
months, but we hope for Fabio and for the England team that he is
ready for the World Cup. I hope that he may yet be ready before the
end of the season for us, too.'
