England captain Leah Williamson will miss the Ladies’s World Cup after Arsenal confirmed she suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in a Ladies’s Tremendous League match towards Manchester United.
Key factors:
- England is already prone to be with out Euros high scorer Beth Mead, who tore her ACL late final 12 months
- Arsenal’s supervisor blamed Williamson’s harm on the situation of the Leigh Sports activities Village pitch
- England’s first World Cup recreation is in Brisbane towards Haiti on July 22
Williamson went down in ache 12 minutes into the Gunners’ 1-0 loss to United and was helped off the pitch by medical workers earlier than limping down the tunnel.
With the World Cup kicking off in Australia and New Zealand in three months, there may be not sufficient time for her to get better, and her absence can be an enormous blow for the European champions.
“Leah will now start a interval of rehabilitation and is about for an prolonged spell on the sidelines. She is going to bear surgical procedure sooner or later,” Arsenal stated in an announcement.
The harm additionally dents Arsenal’s hopes, with the membership third within the league standings — six factors behind leaders United — whereas they’re additionally within the Champions League semifinals, with the primary leg away to VfL Wolfsburg this weekend.
“Sadly the World Cup and Champions League dream is over for me and everybody will assume that is the primary focus, nevertheless it’s the day-to-day of what I am about to undergo that’s the most draining of my ideas,” Williamson wrote on Instagram.
“I had tears and made my peace with it the evening it occurred and since then I have been following the steps I am advised to, in an effort to greatest assist myself within the brief and long run.
“Finally, I believe it is simply my time … I have never had a day since final October once I’ve walked on to the pitch with no bodily or psychological query mark over me, and that is skilled sports activities.”
Arsenal supervisor Jonas Eidevall blamed the situations of Manchester’s Leigh Sports activities Village pitch after Williamson suffered her harm.
“I believe for those who see the pitch … it’s a pitch that has much more to ask for and I believe it will proceed right here with the taking part in schedule,” he stated, echoing oft-cited issues in regards to the services out there for WSL matches.
“Taking part in on pitches like that, in fact gamers are going to get injured. It is one thing all of us want to enhance on, the services the place we play, if we need to preserve the gamers on the pitch.”
Arsenal’s Beth Mead additionally ruptured her ACL in November. England boss Sarina Wiegman stated final month it might take a “miracle” for the striker and Euros high scorer to be prepared for the World Cup.
Chelsea and England centre-back Millie Vivid, in the meantime, has been dominated out for a number of extra weeks with the knee harm she suffered in March, however it’s not recognized whether or not she may also miss the World Cup, which kicks off for England on July 22 towards Haiti at Lang Park in Brisbane.
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Reuters
