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David Beckham's dream of playing for England at the World Cup in South Africa this summer looks like it is over after tearing an Achilles tendon in AC Milan's 1-0 win over Chievo on Sunday.
Reports from the Milan camp say he is 'devastated' as he will know that it will take at least three months just to start running again so the chances of him being fit by June are virtually non existent.
Given that Capello also has several other players coming back from injury so the chances of him risking another returning player appears unlikely.
The position of right wing in the England team is also one of the most competitive with Walcott, Cole, Lennon and Wright-Phillips all serious contenders for the role. The Italian is not short of options. It was always likely, as well, that Beckham would not be a first team regular so the team will not suffer greatly ... but his influence in the camp will definitely be missed.
He is England's most capped outfield player with 115 appearances but his hopes of appearing in his fourth consecutive finals are probably gone now. His World Cup story is a fragmented one with a sending off in 1998, an injured toe before the 2002 tournament meant he was not fully fit and in 2006 he went off injured in the quarter-final clash with Portugal.
This unlucky trend is set to continue but this time he will probably not even make it to the finals although he will guarantee plenty of headlines over the coming weeks. He has been a fantastic servant for his country and if he does miss out then it will not be for want of trying. Beckham's international career looks over but never underestimate his professionalism and determination as this will never allow him to think anything other than making it on the plane to South Africa.
Experts predict Beckham will miss the World Cup and most if not all the Los Angeles Galaxy season. It remains to be seen how much he'll have left for the Galaxy and US Major League Soccer which he was due to rejoin after the World Cup adventure.
Is the David Beckham story over? Probably, but the man does have a habit of proving people wrong.
