David Beckham after the tackle

Beckham was injured from a two footed tackle from Deportivo player Pedro Duscher, who is from Argentina. He had only just recovered from injury after a bad tackle from Deportivo player Tristan in the first leg of the Champions League quarter final the week before.

He has broken his second metatarsal bone in his left foot (this is the longest bone in his toe next to the big toe). He will have to have his foot in plaster for between six and eight weeks - as he will have to completely rest during this time it will then take another two to four weeks to get fully fit again. When the injury occurred there were just over seven weeks to England's first World Cup game against Sweden on 2nd June 2002.

He will certainly miss the final games of the season with Manchester United and England's friendly games leading up to the World Cup - he will, however, hopefully be picked in the England World Cup squad, even if he is unavailable to play until the later stages of the competition.

FIFA has said that managers can name a replacement for an injured player up to 24 hours before the tournament starts - the England manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson, therefore has until 30 May to decide whether to include Beckham in the final 23 man England squad.

Beckham has said he was devastated by the injury but he may well recover faster than expected. See the latest on the Beckham injury below.

     

                                                                  


On Thursday 18 April, Beckham crashed his Mercedes car but was uninjured - he collided with an off-duty policeman in a Ford Focus on a "blind corner" near his home in Hertfordshire, England. Beckham was allowed to drive with his left leg in plaster as he was driving an automatic.

To speed up his recovery, Beckham is apparently sleeping in a sealed low-oxygen tent - this gives him the effect of high altitude to help keep his fitness level up whilst he is unable to run. Beckham has said that he thinks making the World Cup is realistic although he does not think he will play for Manchester United again this season.

Saturday 27 April: In an interview in the Mail on Sunday, David Beckham's father, Ted, has said that there is some optimism from David that he could be back for the European Champions League Cup final on 15 May if Manchester United get through - this appears very optimistic but is encouraging that he will be back for England for the first World Cup game against Sweden on 2 June. *** Note on 30 April, Manchester United drew away to Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 and so did not qualify for the European Champions League Cup final ***

Friday 3 May: Manchester United have said that David Beckham's broken foot is healing satisfactorily following an X-ray taken this week. The day before, Sven Goran Eriksson said that he thinks personally that David Beckham will now be able to play in the World Cup.

Monday 13 May: David Beckham said that he started running again on 11 May - he said that his foot was a bit sore and that he has now got to get fit but that it shouldn't be a problem as there are three weeks to go to the start of the World Cup.
 
Saturday 25 May: Eriksson has told Beckham that he must be in full training by Friday 31 May or it will be difficult to play him against Sweden on 2 June. The latest X-ray has shown that the broken bone in Beckham's left foot has almost completely healed but he will not take any part in the game with Cameroon on 26 May.

Sunday 26 May: Beckham joins the rest of the squad by running on the pitch before the 2-2 draw with Cameroon. After the match ended Beckham came out on the pitch again to a cheering Japanese crowd and did some more light training, including kicking the ball with his injured foot. Eriksson said that he hopes Beckham will be playing by the middle of next week.
 
Tuesday 28 May: Eriksson has said that David Beckham's foot has healed following his latest medical examination and he will now be available for England's first World Cup game against Sweden.