Uri Geller, the spoon-bending psychic, urged viewers to put their hand on the TV and concentrate on a foot that was plastered on the front page of the country’s biggest-selling paper.
David Beckham had broken a metatarsal just 36 hours earlier and his chances of making the 2002 World Cup were in jeopardy.
‘Beck us pray’ was the headline accompanying the giant shot of the midfielder’s foot on the front of The Sun ahead of Geller’s appearance on GMTV.
Uri Geller called on the nation to unleash its healing powers on GMTV to mend David Beckham’s crocked left foot (GMTV)
Every other media outlet was also awash with stories about the injury.
A rough, two-footed challenge by Deportivo La Coruna’s Aldo Duscher in the second leg of Manchester United’s Champions League quarter-final saw Beckham go down injured.
Taken down the tunnel on a stretcher, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that Beckham was a doubt for the tournament in South Korea and Japan.
A timeframe of six to eight weeks was put on the injury to his left foot, with the Prime Minister leading the national concern at a Cabinet meeting in Downing Street.
Even Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed his concern about David Beckham’s well-being (Matthew Fearn/PA)
At a session otherwise dominated by the Budget and the Middle East, Tony Blair broke off to tell colleagues that “nothing was more important” to the Three Lions’ World Cup preparations than the state of Beckham’s foot.
Aldo Duscher avoided a booking for his challenge on David Beckham, but would go onto be sent off for two yellow cards in that match (Martin Rickett/PA)
Some even suggested that Duscher had purposely crocked Beckham, given his compatriots were due to face England at the World Cup that summer.
England captain David Beckham celebrates scoring against Argentina (Owen Humphreys/PA)
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