Rooney remains in England World Cup squad after positive scan

Jun 7, 2006, 21:13 GMT

File picture dated 23 March 2006 of England footballer Wayne Rooney posing for the media beside the World Cup trophy as part of the FIFA World Cup tour in London, Thursday 23 March 2006. A relieved Wayne Rooney will remain in England‘s World Cup squad, after a positive scan Wednesday 07 June 2006 on the fourth metatarsal in his right foot revealed that it has healed sufficiently for him to participate in the FIFA World Cup tournament starting 09 June. EPA/HUGO PHILPOTT

Manchester - A relieved Wayne Rooney will remain in England's World Cup squad, after a positive scan Wednesday on the fourth metatarsal in his right foot revealed that it has healed sufficiently for him to participate in the tournament.

The Manchester United striker sustained the injury in a Premiership match on April 29 against Chelsea but has finally won his race to be fit, according to the BBC, who say an official announcement is imminent.

Tottenham Hotspur striker Jermain Defoe, who travelled to Germany with the rest of the England squad on Monday as Rooney's possible replacement, will now return to England.

Initially it was thought Rooney had no hope of making the finals but hopes were raised by an apparently speedy recovery and his participation in an England training session Tuesday, after which coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said he was 'sure he will take part.'

Rooney underwent the scan at the Whalley Range clinic in Manchester and was accompanied by English Football Association (FA) executive director David Davies, as well as his club doctor Tony Gill and England doctor Leif Sward.

He returned later in the day and left the clinic with a smile on his face in the same car as Davies.

Eriksson has already all but written off the 20-year-old's participation in England's Group B matches against Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago and Sweden but the England coach hopes to have him available for the knockout stages of the tournament. Should England make it out of the group as expected, their second round matches will begin on June 24 or 25.