Kalvin Phillips defied the doctors who said he wouldn’t make the World Cup - and then feared he had put himself out of the tournament by dropping a dumbbell on his foot.
The Manchester City midfielder should still be recovering from a shoulder operation after suffering a series of painful dislocations. Medics gave him a 12-week recovery time - but Phillips was back inside eight.
Then, just 24 hours after Gareth Southgate gave the 26-year-old the news that he would be in England’s squad for Qatar, he almost shattered his own dream. Literally.
Phillips explained: “It’s a good story, to be honest. Before the game against Brentford, being the professional that I am, I went to the gym to do loads of Achilles work on the leg press.
“I pulled a weight off the rack and there must have been one stuck behind it because it landed straight on my foot and left me with a bit of a cut. It’s not too bad. In fact, it’s the blisters from training out here that are hurting me more.
“But stood there in shock for about 10 seconds and thought ‘oh my God, what have I done?’ Thankfully it was only a five-kilo plate. If it had been heavier, it would have been a lot worse. Imagine that being what you get for being professional.”
Phillips was wearing a flip-flop that had been cut back to help ease the bruising.
He didn’t get off the bench as City lost against the Bees last weekend, but 40 minutes in the Carabao Cup win over Chelsea was enough to convince Southgate that he was ready for the World Cup.
Phillips has played just 54 minutes since moving to the champions in a £42million deal from Leeds in the summer.
He knew he was taking a gamble by joining Pep Guardiola’s star-studded squad. But when he dislocated his shoulder in a friendly against Barcelona in the Nou Camp in August, he wasn’t prepared to take a chance with his England place by going under the knife.
When the problem returned during a training session, it was Guardiola who convinced the Yorkshireman that an operation was the best solution for both club and country.
Phillips said: “Pep didn’t exactly force me to get the operation, but he felt it was the best thing to do for me to have the best chance to be involved in the World Cup.
“When someone like Pep Guardiola tells you something, you don’t ignore it. It meant I would obviously miss a lot of game-time, but my long-term goal had to be to get healthy.
“Obviously I wanted to be involved in the World Cup, but if it didn’t happen then I wanted to make sure I was ready to go back to City as a new player because I hadn't played too much.”
Phillips had the perfect training partner in Kyle Walker. The defender was also involved in a race against time to be fit for the tournament following an operation to repair a groin muscle damaged in the Manchester derby.
They both made the flight from Birmingham International to Doha. Phillips’ contribution to England’s march to the Euro 2020 final was a factor that took care of any worries about his lack of game-time at the Etihad.
Phillips said: “I haven’t had enough playing time - but I’ve been training at City with the best players in the world and I’ve been working really hard. I started running three weeks after my operation and started contact training three or four days before the squad announcement.
“It was never a case of ‘if you’re fit then you’ll go’ from Gareth. I was thinking that if I’m not playing games and other players in my position are doing really well then it would be tough.
“When Gareth called to tell me I was in the squad, I didn’t want to show too much emotion because there were other players who would be getting bad news. I just said ‘thanks for believing in me’.”
Phillips hopes his dad will still get to watch him play in the World Cup from his prison cell. The England international has spoken honestly in the past about his father Mark’s problems with the law - and their relationship is believed to play a prominent role in a forthcoming Amazon documentary about the England midfielder’s life.
Phillips’ admiration for the way mum Lindsay has single-handedly raised him and his three siblings has also been well documented. His dad is serving a lengthy prison sentence at HMP Wealstun, close to the Leeds training ground at Thorpe Arch where Phillips perfected his trade.
Phillips said: “Obviously all my family are very proud of me. I don’t know how confident they all were in me getting in the squad, but I knew that my close and immediate family around me would push me every single day, knowing that I was always capable of achieving the goals that I’ve set. And I did that.
“With regards to my dad, I believe he will try and watch as much games as possible. He will be a little bit nervous but he will be very proud of me - and I am very happy about that.”
