Wayne Rooney, England’s young star in the World Cup squad, broke the fourth metatarsal on his right foot yesterday following a tackle during a match between his team, Manchester United, and Chelsea.

Manchester United doctors say he will be off any kind of sports for about six weeks. If his recovery goes well, that places him back in action during the first day of the world cup for England, in a match against Paraguay.

This is the second time a broken metatarsal has jeopardised the England team just before the World Cup. David Beckham broke his second metatarsal a few weeks before the World Cup in 2002. Although he managed to recover in time to play, it was clear his fitness was not as perfect as it usually was.

Will Wayne Rooney’s foot be fully recovered so that he can play? Even if his foot does recovers, how will his fitness be? These are questions England fans and the England team’s health professionals will be asking. He fractured his fifth metatarsal in 2004, during the Euro 2004 quarter-final match against Portugal – it took 10 weeks before he was able to play professional football again.

If Rooney’s recovery is rapid, he may just about be able to play as the World Cup starts. Otherwise, he may have to hope that England makes it through the group qualifying rounds.

Ledley King, another England team member who plays for Tottenham Hotspurs (Spurs) fractured his fourth metatarsal not that long ago. Doctors say he will be fit to play before the World Cup starts.

England is currently plauged with players who are either injured or nursing injuries that do not seem to heal completely. Michael Owen, Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole and King are not 100% fit.

Why are there so many injuries? Why are so many players failing to recover fully?

The human body thrives on fitness. The more exercise you do, the healthier and fitter you become, the stronger your bones, muscles, lungs and heart get. However, the human body also needs rest. Without rest, too much physical activity wears the body down and the risk of injury grows. Footballers in England have a gruelling schedule of matches. When England won the World Cup in 1966, players had time to rest – bones and muscles recovered from injury, susceptibility to injury was less. Why? Quite Simply – Because their bodies had time to rest.

There Are 5 Metatarsal Bones (in the foot)

The First Metatarsal Bone
Os metatarsale I; metatarsal bone of the great toe
The thickest and shortest one.

The Second Metatarsal Bone
Os metatarsale II
The longest one
David Beckham’s injury in 2002

The third metatarsal bone
Os metatarsale III

The fourth metatarsal bone
Os metatarsale IV
Wayne Rooney’s current injury

The fifth metatarsal bone
Os metatarsale V
Wayne Rooney’s injury in 2004

Click Here To See Illustrations – Wikipedia

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today