England Captain Steven Gerrard who played just 45 minutes on Saturday in England’s 0-0 draw with Honduras in Miami missed the Three Lions training session today. Gerrard has been suffering from a groin injury for about a week now.
“I had a tight groin in midweek so it was always the plan for me to play just 45 minutes,” Gerrard said Saturday night to reporters following the Honduras match. Gerrard did not play on Wednesday against Ecuador and Frank Lampard captained the side instead.
Today in training, Gerrard did some light running away from the rest of the squad and then headed back into the changing room. Still the England Captain is expected to be fully fit for the Three Lions World Cup opener on Saturday against Italy. England Manager Roy Hodgson will have to monitor the progress of the 34 year-old who is coming off a great season with Liverpool FC, who finished 2nd in the Premier League.
England’s staff will also monitor the rehabilitation of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who is attempting to be match fit soon after an injury that was suffered against Ecuador. Hodgson and his staff will have a few more days to make a final determination as to the health of the Arsenal midfielder, though it is entirely possible they will keep the player on the World Cup squad even if he cannot feature during the Group Stage.
Based on today’s training session however, the Daily Mail reported that Oxlade-Chamberlain engaged in a number of running drills indicating that his recovery is ahead of schedule.
Before the training session, England’s players lined up behind a banner that read “Obrigado Brasil pela recepcao calorosa”, translated to English as ” “Thank you Brazil for your warm welcome”. In turn, the locals played a rendition of “We Are The Champions” according to the BBC.
