SYDNEY (AP) — After fear that Keira Walsh’s Women’s World Cup was over because of a knee injury, the England midfielder has sparked hope she could play again at the tournament after scans revealed she has not suffered ACL damage.
Walsh has been ruled out of England’s final group game against China. But there is hope she will be able to recover for the knockout stages.
“Following a scan late on Saturday afternoon, we can confirm Keira Walsh has not suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury,” the English Football Association said. “Her knee injury will continue to be assessed by England medical staff and no further update will be provided at this stage.”
Walsh's knee injury in the Lionesses' 1-0 win against Denmark on Friday left a hole in the heart of the midfield.
Walsh — considered the conductor during England's European Championship triumph last year — had to leave the field in Sydney on a stretcher and later exited the stadium on crutches.
At the Euros, “everything came through Keira. There wasn’t a Plan B,” England's all-time leading scorer Ellen White said in her role as an analyst for the BBC. "I dreaded to think of the idea of us ever losing her because she was one of our best players. Beth Mead was scoring all the goals but all of our play came through Keira.
“She was the key cog, everything moved through her.”
Walsh joined Barcelona from Manchester City after the Euros for a reported record fee of 400,000 pounds ($513,000). Her departure from the game against Denmark, with England leading 1-0 and on top, was quickly felt and indicated just how big a loss she could be to coach Sarina Wiegman.
Denmark grew into the game, ended the stronger team and missed out on a late equalizer when substitute Amalie Vangsgaard headed against the post.
“I feel a little bit sorry for England that they lost Keira Walsh,” Denmark coach Lars Sondergaard said. “We hope it is not as bad as it looked, but of course that could also be a reason why we came back into the game — that she was not there.”
Walsh may not be as spectacular as someone like a Sam Kerr, who was ruled out of Australia's opening two games with a calf injury, but she is considered just as vital to her team's ambitions.
Little surprise, then, that Wiegman appeared so downbeat when questioned about the injury.
“Of course I’m concerned. She couldn’t walk off the pitch,” she said before curtly responding to White's claim that there was no backup plan in place at the Euros.
“You saw what we did. (Georgia) Stanway dropped back and Laura (Coombs) came in,” she said.
Whether that can be a long-term fix is uncertain, given how close Denmark went to earning a draw and England's failure to build on the promising start it made when Lauren James opened the scoring after six minutes.
England's World Cup preparations were already disrupted by injuries to Beth Mead, Fran Kirby and Leah Wiliamson, but Walsh could be the biggest loss of all.
She is the link between defense and attack and there is no obvious replacement for her. She can direct England's forward moves with her vision and passing and also she operates as a protective screen for her defenders.
Without her, England did enough to seal its second narrow win of the tournament and move to the brink of advancing to the knockout rounds.
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