Beckham to spend another day at "centre of world"

16/03/2010 09:15:59

David Beckham will spend one more day at "the centre of the world" recovering from Achilles tendon surgery, his surgeon in Finland said on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old's visit to see top specialist Dr. Sakari Orava has enthralled Finland, with media and fans waiting at the airport for his arrival on Monday.

Newspapers on Tuesday were jam-packed with photos of a sombre-looking Beckham arriving at the clinic in Turku on the country's west coast, 165 kilometres from the capital Helsinki.

"The centre of the world: Turku" tabloid Ilta-Sanomat wrote on Tuesday. "Superstar David Beckham's surgery turned eyes to Finland."

Beckham suffered the injury in AC Milan's 1-0 win over Chievo on Sunday and flew to Turku for an operation with Orava, who has also operated on leading sports figures such as Haile Gebrselassie, Josep Guardiola and Merlene Ottey.

Orava said Beckham was like to stay another day in Finland and that he was in an upbeat mood.

"I think he prefers to stay one more night here. I just visited him ... and he said if it's possible he would stay one more night so we can check the wound tomorrow," Dr. Orava told Reuters by telephone from Turku on Tuesday.

"(His mood) was pretty good ... he was smiling and there was no pain. He was really happy."

Orava told Reuters late on Monday that Beckham would likely miss the World Cup in South Africa due to the injury, which will keep his foot in a cast for 6-8 weeks.

The World Cup starts on June 11.

(Editing Peter Rutherford)