Michael Owen's World Cup dream is over after the striker was ruled out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson claimed today the heavy' pitch at Wembley was a factor in the 30-year-old suffering the injury during Sunday's 2-1 Carling Cup Final victory against Aston Villa.
Owen, who scored United's first goal in the win before being replaced by Wayne Rooney, has not played for Fabio Capello's England since March 2008 and was considered a long shot to make the Italian's 23-man squad for South Africa.
But any chance Owen had of receiving a shock call-up appears even less likely after Capello made it clear he would only consider players who are fit and in form for selection.
Owen had been expected to be ruled out for just two weeks but will now undergo surgery on Monday.
Ferguson revealed today: "He's out for the season — it's a bad blow. Unfortunately it's more serious than we thought.
"It's a terrible blow for the lad and is disappointing news for us, too. He has never missed a training session all season.
"I think the heavy pitch at Wembley on Sunday made some contribution to it."
But there was some good news for United today when it was confirmed Owen Hargreaves will make his long-awaited comeback for the reserves next week.
England international Hargreaves has been out of action since September 2008 with a series of knee problems, but is finally ready to return.
Ferguson said: "Hargreaves has shown he is almost ready to play. He has been training with the first team, which has beeen good."
