3 days and counting...

3 days to go...

World Cup Fever has truly reached fever pitch!

But as we get closer, the number of players suffering injuries and being forced out of the competition doesn't seem to be relenting much.

The latest to miss out is Rio's Man Utd team mate Nani who suffered an injury to his collar bone whilst training with Portugal. Portugal are in a group that includes 5 times winners Brazil and the Ivory Coast. Nani will be a big miss for them, especially after being on good form last season with Man U. Portugal are also keeping a close eye on defender Pepe who has been included in the final squad despite a niggling knee injury.

The Netherlands have received some better news regarding the fitness of one of their star forwards, Arjen Robben after he left the pitch against Hungary during their friendly. The striker had scored 2 goals before he was forced off with a torn hamstring. However, according to the man himself he is sure that he will be fit and able to return back to Holland's preparations in good time. This will come as a massive boost for the Dutch side; Robben has been unstoppable at some points this season and was at the centre of his side's double winning success.

Meanwhile there has been some better news for the Ivory Coast concerning their captain Didier Drogba. There were strong fears that he would miss the tournament through a broken arm but he has made some "encouraging" progress. This will no doubt come as a relief to the Elephants as well as to Chelsea fans hoping to catch a glimpse of their star striker at the tournament.

Finally Rooney scored and assisted in England's win over the local team, Platinum Stars yesterday afternoon. Defoe gave England the early lead, with Joe Cole and Rooney rounding up a 3-0 victory. I mentioned before in the post about the game against Japan that Rooney had lost his temper with one of the Japan players, shortly after Lampard had missed the penalty and this is something we've seen all too often. Rooney has appeared to have calmed down in recent times but there is still that fiery element about him which he needs to keep under wraps and tame somewhat. He got involved in a spat yesterday with the Platinum Stars and was subsequently ordered to calm down. It's great to see his passion but he has to be careful. We don't want a repeat of what happened in 2006 against Portugal in the semis.