By NEIL CUSTIS
RIO FERDINAND’S England future is on a knife-edge with the Manchester United defender plunged into a club-v-country row.
Old Trafford chief Alex Ferguson was unhappy to see his key central defender recalled by Roy Hodgson for this month’s crucial World Cup qualifiers in San Marino and Montenegro.
With United facing an FA Cup replay at Chelsea on Monday April 1, Fergie believes 34-year-old Ferdinand will now be forced to play too many games in too short a period. That flies in the face of how United’s medical staff try to carefully manage the toll on Ferdinand between games.
Fergie held talks with Ferdinand yesterday and now the player is left with an agonising decision:
Ferdinand can gamble on his fitness and potentially risk facing Fergie’s wrath by agreeing to play for England.
Or tell Hodgson he does not want to play — effectively ending his international career and kissing goodbye to playing in next year’s World Cup.
England chief Hodgson, who made a surprise U-turn by recalling Ferdinand to his 26-man squad on Thursday, has no doubt the former Three Lions skipper can cope with the strain.
He said: “I watched Rio play Real Madrid on a Tuesday night and then again the following Sunday afternoon against Chelsea.
“And on both occasions he played the full 93-94 minutes.”
But Ferguson said: “Roy phoned me to say he had called him up and I was surprised.
“I said I’d talk to Rio. It does not rest with me, it rests with Rio.
“The issue is his preparation. It involves treatment and rest, it involves heavy days then light days, followed by some easy days.
“The procedures have been the same all season, which has given him fantastic performance levels.
“We have to consider that and so does Rio so we’ll see what the outcome is.
“We’ve been doing it for two years and it’s worked.
“We’ve detailed his training programmes and the treatments he needs for the various complaints, like his back and groin.”
Ferdinand has won 81 England caps since his debut in 1997 but last played for his country in the Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland in June 2011.
He was left out of Hodgson’s squad for last summer’s finals for what the manager called “purely football reasons”.
But that was generally viewed as a way to avoid tensions with John Terry, who had been charged with racially abusing Ferdinand’s younger brother Anton.
