The leading surgeon who operated on England and AC Milan midfielder David Beckham, has said that there is "no chance" of him playing in this summer's FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Beckham was operated on less than 24 hours after rupturing his left Achilles tendon during AC Milan's Serie A game against Chievo at the San Siro on Sunday.

Talking about the injury, Dr. Sakari Orava said: "The tendon was totally torn."

Even though the operation to fix it went "smoothly", the 34-year-old will still be undergoing rehabilitation when the England squad flies out for their camp in Rustenburgto.

Beckham, who had been hell-bent on appearing in his fourth successive World Cup finals, will not even be able to kick a ball for three months.

"This is probably the lowest point he has ever encountered in his professional career. Words cannot express how devastated David is," The Sun quoted a family friend, as saying.

"Mentally this is disastrous. He thinks he's being punished for something he must have done wrong in life, which of course is ridiculous," the friend said. (ANI)