World Cup:The Ivory Coast Football Federation have confirmed captain Didier Drogba has broken his arm but are still not ruling him out of the World Cup. Drogba was forced out of the Ivorians' World Cup warm-up game against Japan in Sion today in the 17th minute, leaving the field clutching his right arm.
There were fears the Chelsea striker would miss the World Cup but Drogba will have an emergency operation and the federation are confident he will be able to play some part in the finals.
“He was taken urgently to a medical centre in Sion, where x-rays revealed a fracture in the player’s right forearm area,” the federation explained in a statement. “Didier Drogba’s state of health is the object of all the attention of the Elephants’ medical staff and of distinguished specialists.
“The Ivory Coast Football Federation stress that the striker Didier Drogba has not, for the moment, been ruled out of the 2010 World Cup.”
Earlier in the day a national federation spokesman revealed they are awaiting further medical tests but claimed Drogba could even feature when they kick off their World Cup campaign against Portugal on June 15th.
“He’s not at all out of the World Cup,” he said. “He can still play. We don’t know if he will be able to play the first game — that depends on the verdict of the medical team. But he’s definitely not out (of the tournament).”
It is nevertheless a devastating blow to Ivory Coast’s hopes of qualifying from Group G which, in addition to Portugal, also contains Brazil and North Korea.
Drogba has scored 44 goals in 69 appearances for his country and hit 37 for Chelsea in all competitions as Carlo Ancelotti’s men landed the Premier League and FA Cup double last season.
Ivory Coast coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said after the game: “It’s an elbow injury for sure. How bad it is, I don’t know. He had a lot of pain.”
Drogba went down clutching his arm following a challenge from Japan central defender Tulio shortly after giving the Elephants the lead.
“Of course I am worried, he’s our captain and one of the best players in the world,” added former England boss Eriksson, who attached no blame to Tulio. “It was unlucky, he didn’t want to hurt anyone. Football is a game of contact.”
Ivory Coast ended up winning the game against Japan 2-0 with Manchester City defender Kolo Toure adding a late second.