Injury forces Gibbs out of US squad, Berhalter in

CLEVELAND, Ohio, May 26: Defender Cory Gibbs has been withdrawn from the US World Cup squad after picking up a knee injury in a friendly on Tuesday, with coach Bruce Arena naming Gregg Berhalter as his replacement.

The 26-year-old Gibbs played a full 90 minutes in the 1-0 loss to Morocco in Nashville, but his knee joint became swollen on Wednesday and tests revealed he would be sidelined for several weeks.

''Naturally, we're very sorry for Cory,'' Arena told reporters yesterday.

''We know he was looking forward to playing in his first World Cup. I believe strongly in him as a player and we're going to miss him.

''In Gregg (Berhalter), we're fortunate to have a player of his experience ready to step in to his second World Cup. I'm confident he will be able to contribute immediately to our team.'' Gibbs, who recently signed a pre-contract agreement with Charlton Athletic in the English Premier League after an unsuccessful stint at Feyenoord in the Netherlands, has played 19 times for the US since making his debut in 2003.

The 32-year-old Berhalter has made 44 appearances for the national team and is captain of German side Energie Cottbus, who won promotion to the Bundesliga on the last day of the 2005/06 season.

Gibbs is the second defender to drop out of the US squad this month following Frankie Hejduk's withdrawal on May 4 after the Columbus Crew player picked up a cruciate knee ligament injury.

His place in the squad was taken by Chris Albright.

Drawn in Group E, the U.S. start their World Cup campaign against the Czech Republic on June 12 before taking on Italy and Ghana.

Before leaving for Germany on June 1, Arena's side will play friendlies against Venezuela on Friday and Latvia on Sunday.

REUTERS