Just hours after being selected for Gareth Southgate’s team for the tournament in Qatar, England star Kalvin Phillips described the terrifying moment he believed he might have put an end to his World Cup hopes. Following shoulder surgery, the Manchester City midfielder has only played 54 minutes of football this year.
Why Phillips Said “What have I done?”
When his chance to compete in the World Championship was in doubt, Phillips missed over two months of action. He came off the bench in City’s 2-0 Carabao Cup victory over Chelsea earlier this month, but before his team’s Premier League match against Brentford last Saturday, he dropped a weight on his foot.
Phillips’ removal from Leeds cost City an astounding £42 million in the summer. But in an exhibition match against Barcelona in August, he suffered a shoulder injury. The 26-year-old then had to be a substitute in two Champions League games, but when things became worse, he was eventually need to have surgery.
Statement Given by Phillips:
Phillips said: “It’s a good story, to be honest, Before the Brentford game, as a pro that I am, I went to the gym to do a lot of Achilles work on the leg press. I pulled a weight off the bar and it must have had one stuck behind it because it landed right on top of my foot leaving a small laceration.
“When someone like Pep Guardiola says something to you, you don’t ignore it. That meant I would obviously miss a lot of playing time, but my long-term goal had to be to get healthy. Of course I wanted to be in the World Cup, but if that doesn’t happen I wanted to make sure I was ready to come back to City as a new player because I hadn’t played too much.”
At last he also said “I haven’t had enough playing time – but I’ve trained with the best players in the world at City and worked really hard. When Gareth called to say I was in the squad, I didn’t want to show too much emotion because there were other players who would get bad news. I just said, ‘Thank you for believing in me.