Wayne Rooney Out for a Month

Ask most Manchester United supporters, and they'd probably have signed off for Tuesday's 2-1 setback against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal. The Red Devils had the precious away goal already tucked away, taking some of the sting out of Ivica Olic's last-gasp winner for Bayern.

However, when starting striker Wayne Rooney hopped off the field, unable to put any weight on his right ankle after some contact with Bayern's Mario Gomez, United supporters (and England for that matter) when to Defcon 5, or whatever its British equivalent is.

Wednesday, reports surfaced that Rooney -- who's been seen on crutches -- will be out anywhere in the range of 2-to-4 weeks. However, since United spent the night in Germany, he has yet to get the ankle scanned and no official statement will likely be made by the club until the end of the week.

In the short term, Rooney's injury takes some wind out of United's sails heading into their massive clash with Chelsea Saturday at Old Trafford, with first place in the Premier League on the line. (United are ahead of Chelsea by one point, with Arsenal looming four behind the pace.)

After the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid, Rooney has assumed the alpha dog status at United this season, basically becoming a one-man gang on the scoresheet, with a Premier League-leading 26 to his name. Since the turn of the year, he's playing on a level that put him in World Player of the Year status,

United did dispatch Bolton 4-0 last weekend with Rooney on the bench, but playing against Chelsea is a different story all together.

Rooney's absence clearly put the onus on Dimitar Berbatov, who's been in great form lately, since the Bulgarian is Sir Alex Ferguson's only real viable option at striker, or least the only one with a history of success in the Premier League.

In the long term, it seems England has dodged a bullet since Rooney should be healthy in time for the World Cup in June. That's assuming the scan of the ankle doesn't reveal any major ligament damage. Without an official statement it's impossible for fans of the Three Lions to completely let out a sigh of relief, especially considering the team's hopes since hitched to Rooney's rising star.

Four years ago Rooney's health dominated England's buildup to the World Cup, after he broke his foot in an April 2006 Premier League match vs. Chelsea.

From an American perspective, it appears the injury pendulum has swung from the U.S. National Team over to England. The U.S. appears to be getting positive news from injured would-be starters Charlie Davies, Oguchi Onyewu and Stuart Holden, coupled with the return to action by Clint Dempsey. Meanwhile, Rooney's injury is another on a growing pile for England, whose causality list includes Ashley Cole, Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe and David Beckham.

If Rooney isn't 100 percent for the U.S.-England match on June 12 it's certainly a lift for the Americans, but in the bigger picture it would be a shame that one of the game's greatest players isn't at his best on its biggest worldwide stage.