Beckham set to leave hospital: doctor

Footballer David Beckham is doing well after an operation at a Finnish hospital to fix his ruptured Achilles tendon and will leave with his wife Victoria on Wednesday afternoon, his surgeon said.

“He is leaving today, but as is probably wise, he is not saying what time or where he is going,” orthopaedic surgeon Sakari Orava told AFP. “I saw him this morning and we said our good-byes.”

The former England captain twisted his left ankle during the final minutes of AC Milan’s 1-0 Serie A win against Chievo on Sunday and limped off the field before being stretchered away in pain and in tears.

He flew to Finland for surgery on Monday, and while Beckham himself called the operation a “success”, the injury rules the 34-year-old out of the World Cup, which kicks off in South Africa on June 11.

Beckham’s wife Victoria, a former member of the Spice Girls group, arrived at the south-western Finnish city of Turku Tuesday to be with her husband, and the pair would leave on a private plane some time in the afternoon, Orava said.

Beckham’s leg is expected to be in a cast for three to four weeks and in a support for around the same length of time, but the on-loan LA Galaxy midfielder already began practicing to walk with crutches Tuesday, Orava said.

“It went well. The practice continues today, and every day there will be more,” Orava said, adding he had worked with a physiotherapist until late Tuesday to put together a “good programme” of practice for the days to come.

“(This morning) the bandages were changed, the wound is clean and everything is as it should be,” Orava said.