Injurywatch™: Who can keep up with all this?

May 9th, 2006 | by: WC Bob |

Figuring out which players are fit to play at the World Cup and which players will be at home nursing their injuries is becoming a full time job in these parts. Today we learned that veteran Australia defender Tony Vidmar will not be going to Germany because of an irregular heartbeat. We say put a band-aid on that thing and strap on the boots. Just kidding. Australia is better off without Vidmar anyway. Meanwhile, Italy has confirmed that injuries will prevent Christian Vieri and Aimo Diana from making their final 23.

In England, Wayne Bridge is bruised after getting into a fight outside a club at 2 am while attending a party for Chelsea and Arsenal players. The injuries aren’t serious and Bridge should heal in time to get injured again some other way before the start of the World Cup.

In South Korea, Park Ji-sung has a sore ankle and excellent hair. He hurt the ankle playing for Manchester United on May 2 and is giving it a bit of a rest before gearing up for the World Cup. We’re predicting big things from Mr. Park when it comes to the World Cup hair department.

The news is also good in Argentina where coach Jose Pekerman is confident that defender Gabriel Heinze and forward Lionel Messi will be ready to play ball come June.

Finally, our favorite story of the day involves a fight that reportedly took place back in January between Ruud van Nistlerooy and Cristiano Ronaldo. Ruud apparently put a hurting on Ronaldo, leaving the youngster with a “broken face.” Despite appearances to the contrary, Ruud’s face was not broken by Ronaldo. It has always looked that way.

Both players should be healthy for the World Cup. Suddenly the thought of a potential Portugal-Netherlands second round match is just a bit more interesting.