Cup final woe in store for Red Devils duo

Simon Stone

While Gabriel Heinze would have been regarded as an automatic selection for the May 21 Millennium Stadium showdown with Arsenal, Kleberson is an outside contender to make the bench at best.

Yet it appears both will now be consigned to the stands in Cardiff after Alex Ferguson confirmed Heinze was losing his battle to recover from ankle ligament damage.

The Argentina full-back, who has become a hero of the Old Trafford faithful since his £6.9 million move from Paris St Germain last summer, suffered the injury in last month’s 2-1 Premiership win over Newcastle.

While Ferguson was quick to rule the 27-year-old out of the remainder of United’s Premiership campaign, he was optimistic about Heinze’s chances of making the trip to Cardiff.

However, those positive vibes appear to have proved ill-founded as, despite a fortnight of intense treatment, Heinze is showing no sign of making a swift recovery.

“There is no real change in Gabby’s condition,” Ferguson said.

“He is continuing with his treatment and we are praying he will be OK, but it is not looking good. “There are 16 days to the final now and we have just got to hope that there is improvement.

“We will just have to wait and see how much progress he makes but to give him a chance, he has to be back running next week.”

If Heinze misses out on the chance to emulate fellow countrymen Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricky Villa, who etched their names into FA Cup final folklore with their performances in the 1981 win over Manchester City, it would be a major blow to United’s hopes of retaining the trophy for the first time.

Heinze started both Premiership wins over the Gunners this season and was a key figure in Ferguson’s plans to claim a fifth successive triumph over Arsene Wenger’s men. The same cannot be said of Kleberson, whose chances of establishing himself in the first-team picture at Old Trafford have been hampered by a succession of injuries since his arrival from Atletico Paraenese in 2003.

After fracturing a shoulder within a month of moving to England, the Brazilian World Cup winner has been plagued by fitness problems and has only just returned to action after an ankle operation, an injury suffered in a Carling Cup triumph over Arsenal in December.

At one point Kleberson looked set to leave Old Trafford and return home to Corinthians during the January transfer window, only for the proposed deal to fall through.

The 25-year-old made his 29th Red Devils appearance at Charlton last Sunday, setting up Wayne Rooney for the visitors’ last goal in a 4-0 romp.

“A good performance can provide you with a lot of confidence to take into the next match, or even into training,” he said. “Hopefully, little by little I will be able to make my way into the first 11.”

The chances of that happening in time for the cup final appear slim and, with Louis Saha now available again, plus the flexibility of Phil Neville and Quinton Fortune providing Ferguson with other options, it seems certain Kleberson will again be reduced to a watching brief in Cardiff, just as he was for the win over Millwall 12 months ago.