Hands on call to pray for a left foot

LONDON -- Britain was called to prayer yesterday as the nation agonised over a new crisis following the death of the Queen Mother -- a fracture to a small bone in David Beckham's left foot.

Rarely has a country been so well-informed about the function and fragility of the second metatarsal bone after the Manchester United soccer star was injured in Wednesday night's Champions League win over Spain's Deportivo la Coruna.

The fear is that Beckham, the inspirational captain of England, may not be fit in time for the World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan in June.

The tabloid Sun led the way, printing a large picture of Beckham's foot on its front page and urging the nation to join in collective prayer at midday.

"Lay your hands on David's foot at noon and make it better," it pleaded on the first of its nine pages on the subject.

Beckham's injury is big news all round. BBC news bulletins on Thursday put it second on their running order all day, just behind the Middle East crisis, and the upmarket newspapers also found plenty of space for it.

Yesterday's papers were dominated by a picture of Beckham hobbling on crutches under headlines pondering the end of his and England's World Cup hopes. "The most important foot in British sporting history," wrote the Mirror. "A nation holds its breath."

The Daily Mail devoted seven pages to England's World Cup 'crisis', but did at least ask the question: Why do we worship at the feet of Beckham?

Prime Minister Tony Blair, always quick to spot a PR opportunity, declared after a cabinet meeting on Thursday that "nothing is more important" to England's World Cup hopes than the state of Beckham''s second metatarsal.

Spoon-bending psychic Yuri Geller joined in yesterday, telling television viewers to touch the screen and pass on their healing energy. Afterwards he said he could feel a tremendous surge of energy.

Meanwhile, a series of specialists have been called by the press to explain exactly what the injury is -- the second metatarsal is a link bone on the toe next to the big toe -- and what it means.

The general consensus, and the view of Beckham's club, is that the injury is likely to keep him out of action for six to eight weeks.

England's opening World Cup match is against Sweden on June 2, seven-and-a-half weeks away.

p England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson said yesterday he was prepared to take a risk on Beckham to give him every chance of making the cup finals.

The initial prognosis that he would be out for up to eight weeks has since improved, giving him a chance of a full recovery within six weeks. That scenario would give Beckham every chance of making it back for England's opening game against Sweden -- and the midfielder has told Eriksson he is optimistic about his chances.

"Of course I am worried as the whole country seems to be worried, but it is not giving me sleepless nights as I cannot do anything about it," Eriksson said. "It will heal or not heal. I just hope he will be all right. I think he will be, I hope so."

Given that Beckham is unlikely to be able to prove his fitness beyond any doubt by the time England's 23-man squad has to be officially announced on May 21, Eriksson recognises he may have to take a slight gamble.

However, given the importance of his captain, the England coach is prepared to do exactly that. "When you talk about Beckham, of course you are willing to take a chance as he's extremely important and is the England captain," Eriksson said.

"He's one of the best footballers in the world. If there's a small chance that he will be able to play, then of course we will take him."

p Meanwhile, Chinese football fans flooded Internet sites yesterday, alarmed over Beckham's foot injury.

"The man who injured Beckham should go to hell," said one man who signed himself a 'super fan' on one of the most popular Chinese websites.

The brutal two-footed tackle from Deportivo's Argentinian defender Pedro Duscher in Wednesday's European Champions League quarter-final was highlighted in all the Chinese papers.

"What if the World Cup has to take place without Beckham?" headlined the daily football paper on its front page.

Beckham is hugely popular in China, especially among young women, who are also avid followers of the gossip columns detailing his private life with former Spice Girl Victoria in the tabloid papers, which have mushroomed in recent years. -- Sapa-AFP