Beckham could be out for nine months, says EIS doctor

By Gerard Meagher, Sportsbeat

DAVID Beckham will not be fit enough to play international football for up to nine months, according to a leading sports physician at the English Institute of Sport.

SHATTERED DREAMS: David Beckham's chances of going to the World Cup are over after rupturing his Achilles tendon, according to leading sports physician at the EIS (Getty Images)

Beckham, 34, tore his left Achilles tendon in AC Milan's 1-0 win over Chievo on Sunday, all but ending his hopes of featuring in his fourth World Cup in South Africa and adding to his 115 England caps.

England's first World Cup match is scheduled for June 12, and while Beckham will fly to Finland for surgery on Monday England coach Fabio Capello has all but resigned himself to losing the former Manchester United man.

In April 2002, Beckham broke a metatarsal in his foot prompting fears he would miss the World Cup in Japan and South Korea but recovered to captain England to the quarter finals.

And while both Capello and Beckham's advisors have stated the outlook is bleak, no conclusions will be drawn until the LA Galaxy midfielder has had a scan on his injury.

But according to Dr Mike Loosemore, a sports physician at the English Institute of Sport, he can forget about going to the World Cup.

"A ruptured Achilles tendon takes between six and nine months to heal," said Dr Loosemore.

"It would be eight weeks after surgery before the patient is able to walk and after that the ankle will be very stiff.

"The rehabilitation is a slow and time-consuming process and it ordinarily takes five to six months before a football player could be thinking about training with other players again.

 "And there is a big difference between being fit to play and being match fit. Once back in training the next stage is to come back into a match for about 20 minutes.

"Then to play half a match but then to be ready to play football for your country could take up to nine months.

"David Beckham is a great athlete and has a top medical team around him at the FA and it's not easy to predict because all athletes are different.

"But if he has ruptured his Achilles tendon as has been reported then his World Cup is over."   

Beckham is currently in his second loan spell with AC Milan, having moved to LA Galaxy from Spanish giants Real Madrid in 2007.

Both moves to Italy were directed at convincing Capello he was still worthy of a featuring at his fourth World Cup - something never done before by an Englishman with Bobby Moore and Peter Shilton joining Beckham on three.

With his hopes of going to South Africa effectively over, it has been suggested this injury would spell the end of Beckham's career but his agent Simon Oliveira insists that is not the case.

"He is upset should he miss the World Cup but is quite a positive individual," he said. "David is a quick healer and we just have to wait for the scan and the surgery, if that goes ahead on Monday.

"This is not the end of his playing career - as has been suggested.

"Even if David does miss the World Cup, he is aiming to play [with LA Galaxy] towards the end of the Major League Soccer season."

And Dr Loosemore sees no reason why Beckham's career should come to an end as a result of the injury.

"It is not a particularly complex rehabilitation process, it is just a long one," added Dr Loosemore. "Complications with an injury such as this are not common and the Achilles should return to the same strength it was at before.

"I see no reason why a ruptured Achilles tendon should mean the end of someone's career."