D-Day for Rooney as final verdict down to Fergie

AFTER four weeks of intense speculation, England will finally discover whether Wayne Rooney has any chance of going to the World Cup today.

The 20-year-old striker spent just under half an hour at the exclusive BUPA medical clinic at Whalley Range yesterday having the scan which is set to determine the likelihood of him making Sven-Goran Eriksson’s 23-man squad.

After evading the mass of cameras before midday yesterday, and doing the same as he sped back out again, Manchester United will now take charge of assessing the scan results before releasing the verdict, which, barring leaks, is expected to come at some stage before lunch today.

With Eriksson also supposedly in the dark, it is set to be a big day for the England coach as well, with the future of his star striker in the balance.

Eriksson has vowed to select the £27 million (€39 million) forward in his squad if there is any chance at all of him being fit, even if it is only for the latter knockout stages.

However, that view is countered by the opinion of Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson, who is adamant it would be an act of folly to take Rooney to Germany if he was less than 100% fit.

Ferguson’s fear is that once in Germany, Eriksson could be pressurised into playing Rooney, particularly if early results go against England.

Ferguson has vowed he will do everything he can to ensure Rooney makes the England squad but also believes, given the striker only suffered the injury late last month, his chances of being fully fit are non-existent.