Rio out of WC2010, Gerrard to Captain England
Rio Ferdinand ruled out of World Cup with knee injury
• England captain suffered injury to knee after tackle in training
• Michael Dawson heading to South Africa to replace defender
England's World Cup preparations in South Africa have suffered a heavy blow with the news that the captain, Rio Ferdinand, has been ruled out of the tournament with knee injury.
The central defender sustained an injury to his left knee in a tackle during the final couple of minutes of England's first training session.
"Rio picked up a knee problem in training," said Fabio Capello. "It happened near the end."
Ferdinand was taken to hospital for a scan and emerged this afternoon on crutches.
The Tottenham defender Michael Dawson is heading to South Africa to replace Ferdinand.
Ferdinand had been optimistic of enjoying an injury-free World Cup after a season dogged by problems at Manchester United.
He was able to feature in barely a third of their Premier League campaign but had trained with no setbacks during England's two-week camp in Austria and also came through the friendly internationals with Mexico and Japan unscathed.
David James also missed training today but Capello is less concerned with that situation and insisted the 39-year-old had "only a slight knee problem".