England coach Roy Hodgson said he was “disappointed” that Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand withdrew from the squad for the World Cup games against San Marino andMontenegro.
“It’s more a question of how his injury situation will impact on him playing for England,” said Hodgson, when asked about Ferdinand’s future. “Let’s wait and see. I’m notreally interested in players who aren’t here. … I was disappointed when he couldn’t join up with us because I picked him as one of our four defenders.”
Ferdinand last played forEngland in June 2011 against Switzerland, missing selection for Euro 2012. Hodgson said he had left the defender out of the squad for “footballing reasons” amid speculation that the exclusion had todo with charges against England defender John Terry for racially abusing Ferdinand’s brother Anton.(Terry was cleared in court but later received an FA ban and fine over the incident.)