ENGLAND striker Wayne Rooney faces a race to be fit for the World Cup finals after breaking a metatarsal bone in his right foot during Manchester United's match at Chelsea on Saturday. The 20-year-old suffered the injury in a challenge with Chelsea full-back Paulo Ferreira in the 79th minute of his team's 3- 0 defeat. The sight of him leaving the pitch on a stretcher raised immediate concerns about his availability for England this summer and confirmation that he had suffered a fracture followed later on that evening. A statement from United said: "Wayne Rooney has fractured the base of the fourth metatarsal on the right foot and he will be out for six weeks." With England's World Cup opener against Paraguay on 10 June exactly six weeks away, coach Sven-Goran Eriksson now faces an anxious wait. Rooney, voted English football's Young Player of the Year for the second successive season, has scored 11 times in 29 appearances for England and only last week his England and Man Utd colleague Gary Neville described him as "probably the one player in the squad who we really probably can't afford to lose." Neville said: "We have other really good players but he is the one up front who offers that different thing for us. Because he is unpredictable, he brings a different dimension with the way he plays." FIFA PRESIDENT Joseph Blatter, General Secretary Urs Linsi and legal director Heinz Tannler answered questions from journalists from around the world at a round-table conference in Zurich this week. On the alleged 'gagging order' ahead of the opening match of the World Cup, Blatter said: "There are no gagging orders in football, and that applies equally to Franz Beckenbauer, the organising committee president. People are thoroughly looking forward to the World Cup, and they want to watch the opening match on 9 June, not listen to long speeches. The tradition at the World Cup is for the highest political representative of the host nation to declare the tournament open, which means Federal President Horst Kohler in this case. Franz Beckenbauer, OC vice-president Horst Schmidt, FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi and I will meet in May to settle any outstanding issues, so we can really begin looking forward to the 64 matches." On ticketing, he added: "People must be able to make it to their seats. The German organisers are well aware of the need for an ongoing, flexible approach to access controls. If someone turns up at the turnstile and then has a problem with his ticket or his passport, it'll cause long queues at this turnstile. We don't want that. We still have 45 days until the World Cup and we'll work together towards a solution." BARCELONA midfielder Xavi returned to action nearly five months after suffering a serious knee injury when he came on as a second-half substitute during their 1-0 win at home to Cadiz on Saturday. The Spanish international got a standing ovation when he stepped on to the Nou Camp pitch to replace Portugal midfielder Deco with 10 minutes left and will now be available for the UEFA Champions League final and his country's World Cup squad. "It was an unforgettable night," the midfielder told reporters. "I've never received a reception like that before and it was great to feel useful again for the team and as a footballer." The 26-year-old was in outstanding form at the start of the season but tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee in a training session at the beginning of December. It was initially thought the injury might sideline him for the rest of the season but he has made a rapid recovery. GERMANY coach Jurgen Klinsmann will announce his 23- man World Cup squad on 15 May and not a day earlier as previously scheduled, the national football federation (DFB) said. The DFB did not give a reason for the change though FIFA's deadline for receiving notification of squads has always been 15 May. BAYERN Munich captain Oliver Kahn plans to play for his club for two years after the World Cup and then quit, he said in a newspaper interview. "After the World Cup I will play for two more years at Bayern Munich, and then this phase of life is over for me," he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. "I will not end this phase of life with retirement but with my head held high, accepting the situation as it is." Kahn, 36, was stunned earlier last month when Arsenal's Jens Lehmann was named as Germany's first-choice goalkeeper for the World Cup. He accepted the role of understudy to Lehmann for the 9 June-9 July tournament, which Germany is hosting. "If I am needed at the World Cup, I am there," Kahn told the FAZ. His contract with Bayern runs until 30 June 2008.
