England suffers weird injury during loss to Italy, but not by a player

England suffers weird injury during loss to Italy, but not by a player

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MANAUS, Brazil – The England team's physical therapist Gary Lewin suffered the World Cup's weirdest injury on Saturday, sustaining a dislocated ankle that caused him to be ruled out for the rest of the tournament while celebrating a goal.

Lewin reacted with delight, leaping into the air and pumping his fist when Daniel Sturridge scored for England 37 minutes into its 2-1 defeat to Italy at Arena Amazonas.

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However, his actions ended disastrously as Lewin came down on top of a stray water bottle and rolled his ankle so severely that it popped out of its socket.

"It is a very sad moment for us," England coach Roy Hodgson said. "In celebrating the goal he jumped up and landed on a water bottle. He has dislocated his ankle.

"It is very, very painful," Hodgson continued. "He was taken to hospital. The doctor was able to set it in the sense that he was able to put it back at the side of the field. It is the end of the World Cup, I'm afraid, for Gary Lewin and a very sad moment for him and the team."

England's players were initially bemused by what had happened and looked on with concern as Lewin was first attended to by medical staff and then taken from the sidelines on a stretcher.

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He is expected to return to the United Kingdom within the next few days and will be replaced by Steve Kemp in attending to the aches and strains of the squad, which now faces a clash with Uruguay on June 19 that could decide its tournament fate.

Lewin, 50, was a doctor for English Premier League club Arsenal for 22 years before switching to take the England job full-time in 2008.

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