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MANCHESTER, England (AP) -England defender Rio Ferdinand withdrew from Saturday's European Championship qualifier against Macedonia because of a back injury.
Ferdinand pulled out shortly before the Group E match at Old Trafford stadium and was replaced by Ledley King, who returned to action last month after missing the World Cup because of a broken foot.
Ferdinand, who hurt his back in training Friday, may also miss Wednesday's qualifier at Croatia.
England coach Steve McClaren put Wayne Rooney in the team after the Manchester United striker missed three games with injury and suspension. Rooney started alongside Peter Crouch for the first time.
Michael Carrick started in the midfield role usually filled by the injured Owen Hargreaves.
England beat Macedonia 1-0 in Skopje on Sept. 6 in an earlier qualifying match.
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England: Paul Robinson, Gary Neville, Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard, Ledley King, John Terry, Michael Carrick, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch, Stewart Downing.
Macedonia: Jane Nikolovski, Nikolce Noveski, Robert Petrov, Goce Sedloski, Vlade Lazarevski, Igor Mitreski, Aleksander Mitreski, Velice Sumulikoski, Goran Maznov, Ilco Naumoski, Goran Pandev.
