England manager Fabio Capello has described the likely loss of David Beckham for the World Cup this summer because of a ruptured Achilles tendon as a “big blow” (England 11/2 – World Cup 2010 Outright).

The 34-year-old, who was hoping to become the first England player to feature in four successive World Cup finals, went down unchallenged during AC Milan’s 1-0 win over Chievo on Sunday and will fly to Finland on Monday for surgery under the supervision of specialist Sakari Orava.

“We have to wait for the results of the scan, but it looks like he is out of the World Cup,” said Capello.

Beckham is unlikely to be able to kick a ball again for six months and there are now fears his career could be over.

He is England’s most capped outfield player with 115 appearances and Capello added: “‘I am very sad for David that he has suffered this injury.”

England begin their World Cup 2010 group campaign against USA on June 12 in Rustenburg (England 1/2 draw 5/2 USA 5/1 – match betting).