Witnessing the metatarsal of all battles

GARY NEVILLE broke his metatarsal bone four years ago — shortly after David Beckham suffered an almost identical injury in the build-up to the last World Cup.

The frenzied, foaming at the mouth British media splashed pictures of their captain’s foot on the front and back pages of newspapers in the run-up to the tournament while Uri Geller led the nation in an exercise of positive thinking in an attempt to heal the fractured bone.

It is said Neville arrived the following morning at Manchester United’s Carrington training ground on crutches, feeling quite sorry for himself, to be greeted by a team-mate. The veteran player shouted across the car park, “Nev, did you see what the papers are after writing about your foot this morning?”