A difficult year for the English defender Ashley Cole will not get any easier on Saturday when his team opens its World Cup campaign against the United States in Rustenburg.
Cole endured a season-threatening ankle injury; was embroiled in a tawdry, Tiger Woods-like tabloid sex scandal that ended his marriage; and in a day will come toe to toe with Landon Donovan, the player who almost knocked him out of his third World Cup.
In February, during a game for his club, Chelsea, Cole lunged with his left leg to control a routine loose ball along the left sideline. Flying in at the same time to win the ball was Donovan, playing his sixth game for Everton on a three-month loan. He caught Cole hard with his right foot, breaking Cole's ankle.
“That collision was strange, completely innocuous it seemed at the time,'' Donovan said months after the encounter. “When he limped off the field, I thought back to it. It was kind of freakish.''
Donovan carried no malice into his encounter with Cole, whom he called “one of the top two or three left backs in the world.''
“I was really excited for that opportunity,'' Donovan said about his duel with Cole. “I knew that was a really big test for me.''
He aced it, playing well and earning the penalty that led to the winning goal in Everton's 2-1 victory, but Cole paid the price. The broken ankle required two months to heal, putting his World Cup participation in doubt.
Devastated
“I was devastated because I felt I was playing well,'' Cole told The Daily Mail . “I scored a few goals and I wanted to help the team.''
Cole spent three weeks in Capbreton, France, to rehabilitate at the renowned CERS clinic, working out with other injured World Cup hopefuls like Michael Essien of Ghana and U.S. forward Charlie Davies (neither of whom was picked for his national team).
“Not only does he want to get back because it's the World Cup, but especially because Landon was the one who broke his ankle,'' Davies said in March, during his own rehabilitation in France. “He's desperate to get back.''
Cole was also desperate to escape the sex, lies and text message scandal that exposed him as a serial philanderer and prompted his pop star wife, Cheryl to file for divorce. It was messy, salacious and very public — the final split confirmed on Twitter. It was enough to distract even the most focused professional athlete, and it stood in stark contrast to Donovan's split from his wife, the actress Bianca Kajlich.
Donovan was introspective about the experience, which was conducted quietly and privately, when he spoke with reporters at the national team's training camp last month in Princeton, N.J. Cole, whose name is in the tabloid headlines daily, has avoided the news media altogether.
On Saturday, the two will collide for the first time since February in a crucial opening match for both teams. A victory could catapult the United States through the first round. A defeat for England could be devastating for a team with championship ambitions and outsize expectations back home.
“For me, Ashley ticks all the boxes as a fullback,'' Stuart Pearce, an England assistant coach and a former national team defender, told The Daily Telegraph . “He is comfortable on the ball, he is good at getting forward, he is athletic and he has the experience at club and international level, and for me he is the best left back that has ever played for England.''
Donovan, who will probably play on the right side of midfield and engineer the American offence, agrees.
“I think Ashley Cole is a fantastic player,'' Donovan said, before noting, “There's certainly a lot more to the game than any one-versus-one battles that are going on.''
— © 2010 New York Times News Service
