Didier Drogba, the Ivory Coast captain, underwent an e m e r-gency opera-

tion in an attempt to save his chances of participating in the World Cup after the Chelsea striker damaged his elbow in a friendly against Japan on Friday.

The Ivory Coast manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson, said: "He may have an operation, butheis not out. He got a bad injury, a bone close to the elbow is broken, but he is going to a specialist and we will take it from there. We will wait until tomorrow evening. The doctors they can't say anymore than that."

A wave of dismay swept across Ivorian football when the forward was helped off the pitch in distress in the 19th minute of Friday's match following a clash with the opposing defender Tulio, off whom a Drogba freekick had earlier deflected to give Ivory Coast the lead. Drogba was taken to hospital in Sion, Switzerland, where the Ivorians have been undergoing altitude training.

Drogba earlier informed French journalists that the injury would prevent him from playing in the World Cup but later retracted that and said an operation could salvage his hopes. That was backed up by spokesman of the Ivorian Football Federation, who said categorically: "He's not at all out of the World Cup. He can still play."

If Drogba does recover in time it would spare him a devas -tating blow — the player has often spoken of his hope to crown what he reckons has been the finest season of his career by leading his country to glory at the first World Cup to be staged in Africa.

If he does miss the tournament, his country will be captained by the Manchester City defender Kolo Toure, who recognised that the loss of Drogba would be "a huge blow". Toure did try to find some silver lining, suggesting that if the striker were ruled out, it would at least provide the team with even more motivation to perform well.

"It's a huge blow because Didier is our captain, our friend and a very important player," saidToure. "Butweneedtokeep our heads up and try to bounce back There are quality players in this squad who will try to use this moment as an opportunity to shine. We will work hard to play well for Didier and if he really can't play we want him to got to South Africa with us. We need to be able to go on without him."