Beckham breaks wrist in S.Africa
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Beckham has already been ruled out of England's next game.
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DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) -- England soccer captain David Beckham has fractured a bone in his right wrist during the 2-1 friendly international victory over South Africa on Thursday.
"It's bad luck for David," said England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. "It was his last fixture of the season. I do hope he can recover as quickly as possible and enjoy his holidays."
Beckham fractured the scaphoid bone located on the thumb side of the wrist during the first half when he landed heavily after a challenge by Thabang Molefe.
He emerged for the second period with his wrist heavily bandaged but was substituted after just five minutes of the half and taken to a local hospital for X-rays.
Eriksson said Beckham would be fit to travel back to England with the rest of the squad on Thursday night.
The Manchester United midfielder has already been ruled out of England's next competitive game, the Euro 2004 qualifier against Slovakia on June 11, due to suspension.
Beckham nearly missed the World Cup last year after suffering a broken foot while on Champions League duty for United in April.
A reckless challenge from Deportivo Coruna midfielder Aldo Duscher left Beckham with a broken bone in his left foot. He recovered just in time to lead England to the quarter-finals in Japan and South Korea but he was not at his best.
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