Ruled out: Rio Ferdinand leaves hospital on crutches Freak knee injury ends Rio's World Cup
Gerrard takes over captain's armband
Dawson flies out as emergency cover
Capello 'very disappointed' over nightmare
Fabio Capello bemoaned the curse of the England captain after Rio Ferdinand was ruled out of the World Cup.
Ferdinand was taken by ambulance to hospital screaming in agony after tearing his left knee medial ligaments in the final minutes of England's first full-scale training session.
Vice-captain Steven Gerrard will inherit the armband and Tottenham's uncapped defender Michael Dawson will arrive at the England camp on Saturday to replace Ferdinand. The England skipper stubbed his foot in the turf as he was challenged by Emile Heskey.
The injury was scanned in hospital and Ferdinand left on crutches having been told he will out for four to six weeks.
'It is the curse of being the captain,' said Capello, who stripped John Terry of the captaincy in February after scandal in his private life.
'It could not have been much worse on our first day. All the players here are important, but Rio is one of the starting players, the captain, a leader.
'It was a tackle with Heskey, but he was more or less alone when he put his feet in the grass. It wasn't the fault of the pitch. He felt a big pain in his knee. The other players were upset and they stopped training.
Nightmare: Rio Ferdinand, crutches at his side, after having the scan that ruled him out of the World Cup'But we have to go forward. I have big confidence in my players and in my defenders. All the players here are ready to play for me. They're at the same level and they're ready.
'As a manager, you have to take into account these things might happen, sometimes during a game, sometimes in training. Sometimes players are injured days before a final. You have to deal with it.'
After Terry lost the captaincy, Ferdinand took over, but his injury problems meant Gerrard was skipper against Egypt in March.
Put through his paces: Rio Ferdinand taking part in England's first training session in South Africa The job will now revert to the Liverpool captain, a player considered too timid by Capello when he first gave the job to Terry and who landed in South Africa on Thursday to discover Rafa Benitez had been sacked.
'Stevie is OK,' said Capello.
'I know Liverpool have changed their manager but I think it can't disturb him.'
Ferdinand's injury came as good news for Dawson on his first wedding anniversary to his wife Anna.
Worry for England: Ferdinand is having a scan on his injured kneeDawson, who had been cut from the original 30-man squad earlier in the week, said: 'It's a crazy game. One minute I'm trying to arrange my holiday, then I get a call asking if I was on holiday because Rio had pulled out of training. I said "no" and then I was just waiting by the phone before getting a call saying I would be picked up in an hour.
Back in action: More encouragingly for Capello, Gareth Barry returned to training as Michael Dawson (r) prepared for his reunion with the England squad'For Rio to miss the biggest tournament in the world as the captain, I feel for him, but it's a chance for me now.
'I was planning to watch the first game of the tournament with my friends and family, but now I'm going to be there for real.'
Reasons to be concerned: Ferdinand was dogged by injury problems last season with Manchester United More encouragingly for Capello, Gareth Barry trained yesterday with the squad and continues to make rapid progress from his ankle injury.
'We are happy because he's improving every day,' said the England boss.
'He spent the morning with the team and the afternoon in the gym with the physio.
But let's go slowly because this is the worst period. I would prefer he didn't play against the USA and is fit for the other games.'
Training: Rio Ferdinand and Gareth Barry with the rest of the England squad in Rustenburg on Friday David James did not train with the squad on Friday. The goalkeeper has a sore knee after the long flight.
'It is not a big problem,' said Capello.
Additional reporting: Laura Williamson
source :dailymail
