Michael Owen ruled out of the World Cup

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BADEN BADEN, Germany, June 21: England striker Michael Owen has been ruled out for the rest of the World Cup finals with a knee injury, the Football Association said on today.

''It has now been confirmed that the injury will prevent Michael playing any further part in the World Cup and he will return to England immediately,'' the FA said on its Web site.

Owen twisted his right less than two minutes into England's Group B 2-2 draw with Sweden in Cologne yesterday after falling awkwardly and had a scan today.

The disappointed 26-year-old striker told the FA Web site: ''Obviously, it's a massive blow to suffer the injury -- and be out of the World Cup.

''As soon as it happened I knew I was in trouble. It was a major disappointment to pick up the injury so early in the game,'' added Owen, who has scored 36 goals in 80 England games.

He had been looking to show his true form against the Swedes, having been given less than an hour in England's two previous group wins over Paraguay and Trinidad&Tobago after a lengthy absence with a broken foot.

England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who replaced Owen with lanky striker Peter Crouch against Sweden, added: ''Michael has had terrible luck with injuries since Christmas.

''I feel very sorry for him to miss out on the rest of the World Cup -- it's blow to him and a big loss for the team.'' Along with Wayne Rooney, who against the Swedes was starting his first game since breaking his foot on April 29, Owen is England's only proven goalscorer at the top level.

Eriksson had gambled by bringing only four strikers to Germany, with the other being 17-year-old Theo Walcott.

The teenager has only made one substitutes' appearance for England, in last month's friendly win over Hungary, and has never played for Arsenal since joining them in January.

Owen will leave the World Cup camp tosday and head back to England where his recovery will be handled by his Premier league club Newcastle United.

''I'll go back home now and work with the Newcastle medical staff to put a recovery programme in place,'' he said.

''I'm clearly sorry to be leaving the lads in Germany, but I'm convinced they can go on and achieve success.

''I'll be following all the matches very closely and giving them my full support, hopefully all the way to (the final in) Berlin.

Reuters