Wayne rue knee. That's the only story that matters 80 days before the World Cup.

The horrible headline nobody wanted to read: Wayne rue knee. Inflamed tendons before the World Cup kicks off on June 11. Eighty days, 34 goals, 32 nations, two knees, one 24-year-old. That’s the only story anybody really cares about today isn’t it? Sure, some ex-politician called Ian Watmore has walked out on the FA after less than a year and they’re having an emergency meeting of old farts, lots of hot air.
Newcastle fans may be shocked at the news that Stephen Taylor broke his jaw in a bust up with Andy Carroll as the push for Premier promotion became too much for the Geordies. Aston Villa supporters will be concerned to hear the club us up for sale at around £40m.
Arsenal are appealing about Tomas Vermaelen’s red card in Saturday’s 2-0 win over West Ham, which left Hammers fans very concerned. Chelsea Blues are being told Carlo Ancelotti has just 21 days to save his job. Liverpudlians are just generally worried. Penniless Pompey have given up worrying 24 hours before they play Chelsea at Fratton Park.
Oh, and Manchester United’s surprise package Ji Sung Park apparently drank boiled frog juice as a child in Korea, which is enough to worry anybody.
Out in Bangladesh, England coach Andy Flower will be very, very worried about his side’s ability to catch a cricket ball. I counted five drops this morning.
But in England, there is only once concern. It’s the Roo knee.
The first time it impinged upon our national consciousness came when he played 83 minutes for England against Egypt at Wembley and then missed the start of the Carling Cup final a month ago. Sir Alex Ferguson rested him and fumed about the surface at the national stadium – but brought him on to score the winner and said it should be gone in a month.
Since then, Rooney has continued to score goals – but he limps away with that inflamed knee tendon swollen after each effort. According to sources inside the club he is suffering “increasing discomfort”.
The lad’s only 24 but already he’s being excused training, like some 38-year-old veteran. He won’t go in to the Carrington training ground before Saturday’s game against Bolton apparently. United have seven games left in the Premier, none in the FA Cup and possibly five in the Champions League.
Then it’s the big one. The World Cup. All that matters to anybody who remembers 1966 in black and white. And those who don't. A friendly against Mexico, the final 23 named on June 1, out to Rustenburg and the Royal Marang Hotel. Then the USA at the Bafokeng Sports Palace on June 12.
Rooney must be ready. Forget the rest of the debate over Gary Neville going, David Beckham playing as an amputee, David James in goal with a zimmer frame. It’s all about our spearhead, the Geoff Hurst of the new generation.
It’s enough to make you plead with Sir Alex to give his favourite Englishman a rest. But there’s no point in that. Hope and pray. Because without Rooney we’ve got no chance. Darren Bent might be scoring for fun, but that’s at Sunderland. Jermain Defoe has a hamstring problem, Peter Crouch has his head in the clouds, Emile Heskey has never been quite up to it.
Rooney, rue knee. Chant it, quietly, as we head into the final 80 days before the World Cup. We need all the help we can get.

The Wembley pitch killed Rooney. But Sir Alex proves his astonishing powers once more.

AH, the limitless power of Sir Alex Ferguson. Oh to be omnipotent like Scotland's finest, feistiest export. Hyperbole? Hardly. How many other football managers have the power to resurrect 24-year-old centre-forwards just before the most vital game of the season?

On Saturday night, after an unimpressive 1-0 win over Wolves at Molineux, Sir Alex issued this solemn death notice: "Wayne Rooney? The Wembley pitch has killed him."

This morning, miraculously, we have "EuROO joy" splashed across the back of The Sun. Yes, Europe's leading goalscorer is fit to play David Beckham and his Milanese pals at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Incredible. Sir Alex's healing hands have worked their Lazarus-like magic once more. How many times have United's players been unfit to play for England, at death's door internationally... only to recover just in time for the Red Devil's next domestic fixture?

Rooney's rapid recovery is clearly an act of God. His "inflamed knee cap tendon" was all Fabio Capello's fault. How do we know? Because Sir Alex spake thus: "He shouldn't have played at all in England's friendly against Egypt. But he played 90 minutes (actually it was 86). He is now very doubtful for the Champions League game."

And of course, it was all down to that spongy Wembley pitch. Nothing to do with the completely unrelated knee problem which saw him start the Carling Cup final on the bench... he came on to replace Michael Owen (out for the season with a hamstring, another Wembley victim) and scored the winner.

Poor old Milan. They must be reorganising as I write, having set up their side for Wednesday's fixture at Old Trafford on the basis that Rooney was on the verge of amputation or cremation.

Yes, Rooney, who scored twice in the 3-2 first leg win at the San Siro. Phew, how those Man U fans must be breathing sighs of relief. Mind you, given Rooney's current form - 8 headed goals in ten games after scoring four headers in 354 attempts - the knee if far less important than the forehead.

More worrying of course is that Sir Alex the all-seeing Rooney ruler. Will his £70m-rated £110,000-a-week striker suddenly suffer an injury just before the end of the season, ruling him out of the World Cup adventure?

Surely not.

Incredibly, Sir Alex has also turned the obviously lazy £30million Bulgar Dimitar Berbatov into a workaholic too. After Dim's lacklustre performance against Wolves, Sir Alex opined: "If you look at the statistics, you'll see that he's one of the hardest runners in our team and that he covers the most ground.

"He's a bit languid and whatnot but he really puts the effort in."

But there appears to be little he can do about the orange idol Wes Brown. He's broken a bone in his foot and may be out for the season - with the World Cup in doubt too. Given his performance against Egypt, that may not be a bad thing.

And who'd want to play at right back against the USA in Rustenburg on June 12 with former England skipper John Terry parading around shirtless with his captain's armband (as he did after yesterday's FA Cup quarter-final triumph over Stoke) and Ashley Cole on crutches at left-back with his psychologist in tow?

Amid all this of course, there's the other big one. Arsenal at the Emirates tomorrow night. They lost 2-1 after inflicting damage on their own chances at Porto. And Cesc Fabregas has a non-Wembley hamstring problem. The same one that kept him out for a month over Christmas. Can Arsene Wenger find those recuperative Fergie powers...? I think not.

It's going to be quite a week.

FOLLOW UP TO YESTERDAY'S BLOG: Portsmouth coach Avram Grant has apparently telephoned Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, wishing him well for the FA Cup quarter-final replay against Fulham. Grant said: "I've just spoken to him. I weish him well for the replay but I hope he loses the semi!" The winner of Spurs v Fulham will play financially-challenged Pompey while Aston Villa take on Chelsea in the other semi, both to be played at Wembley on the 10th and 11th of April.

By hook or by crook, England's squad takes shape. No Owen, Beckham on the brink, Ashley calls for the psychologist

AND gradually, by hook or by crook, England's World Cup 23 is coming together.

With this morning's news that Michael Owen is out for the rest of the season, we can sort out the strikers now, two months before Fabio Capello has to name his 30-strong provisional group.

There are no more friendlies before May 11, when those names are due to be named. So Fabio Capello is able for forget the mature talents of Owen. Sure he scored the wondergoal against Argentina in 1998, he even scored the first goal against Aston Villa in the Carling Cup final at Wembley last Sunday (before coming off for Rooney, right, who got the winner).

But in truth, Owen is now a bit-part player at United and the face that he needs surgery on his hamstring - not for the first time - will help clear Capello's thinking. Not that he's ever really considered Owen a contender. It looks like that remarkable 40-goal international tally - which puts him fourth on the all-time list behind Bobby Charlton's 49 - will never be improved.

Rooney, who didn't quite look himself in the 3-1 win over Egypt at Wembley on Wednesday, is still looking for the perfect partner up front. Emile Heskey, left on the bench while Peter Crouch went on to score his 19th and 20th goals for England in his 37th appearance, suffered in silence. He may be sacrificed despite years of diligent service for the nation. The experts want to see Carlton Cole of West Ham, believing he can disrupt sides like Algeria and Slovenia. And Spurs fans will tell you Jermain Defoe is the best goal-poacher in the country, despite his diminute stature.

In the midfield, Gareth Barry and Michael Carrick impressed as England came from 1-0 down on Wednesday, but Frank Lampard, who came off at half-time for Carrick, will still figure. Stevie Gerrard, rarely at his best for England, looks like retaining his uncomfortable position on the left ahead of Joe Cole, who apparently is on his way out at Chelsea. Despite the claims of the excellent James Milner and Shaun Wright-Phillips and the injured Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott appears to remain in the running despite this comment by radio analyst Chris Waddle on Wednesday: "He has the pace but this boy doesn't know how to play football."

The defence looked decidedly ropey against the three-time African champions. Today we hear Capello is begging Wayne Bridge to reconsider his woman-related retirement, though he is apparently "reasonably happy" with Everton's Leighton Baines at left-back, with Steve Warnock of Aston Villa as his stand-in if Ashley Cole doesn't make it.

Chelsea are flying a psychologist out to see Ashley as he recuperates from ankle surgery in Biarritz. Apparently it has nothing to do with his impending divorce from the nation's darling Cheryl Cole... or his beard, which looks like a stubbly statement about the injustices of the world.

In the middle at the back, Rio Ferdinand's appointment as captain after the woman-related demotion of John Terry is looking increasingly silly. Rio rarely plays more than a couple of games on the trot for United these days, he directs films, publishes magazines and generally does what veteran international stars do in the modern world. Why don't they just open pubs and retired disgracefully?

But if he could be bothered, stays fit, attends drugs tests, avoids women and suspension, he will slot in beside Terry with Matthew Upson and Wes Brown in reserve, though Brown may also fill in at right back if Glenn Johnson doesn't make it.

In goal? West Ham's Robert Green looked fine, David James is the experienced option, Joe Hart, the Manchester City youngster on loan with Birmingham, will be third choice.

And that's it. England's starting line-up, if fitness allows: Green, Johnson, Terry, Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Lennon, Lampard, Barry, Gerrard, Rooney, Defoe. You'll not Ferdinand, Cole and Lennon are currently injured. It's unlikely Capello will start like that, but I think he'd like to if he could.

In the 23 finalised on June 1, you'll also have: James and Hart in goal, Upson, Bridge and Brown in defence, Carrick, Joe Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips and the excellent James Milner in midfield, Peter Crouch, Carlton Cole and Emile Heskey up front.

In the 30 named on May 11, expect to see: Manchester United's twilight goalkeeper Ben Foster who may just be the best of the lot, Leighton Baines and Steven Warnock, waiting to hear if Cole and Bridge will go, Theo Walcott still trying to play football, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Darren Bent on stand-by up front in case Rooney... oooh, I can't even think about it.

And the last man in the 30-strong squad? David Beckham. Hoping for injuries, praying Capello will suddenly have a pang of sympathy. But after leaving him languishing on the bench all night on Wednesday, he may be in for chronic disappointment.