David Beckham

Five months before Beckham left Manchester United for Real Madrid, Sir Alex Ferguson gave him the boot in a far more literal sense.

The United boss, frustrated at a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in the FA Cup, kicked a stray boot – an Adidas Predator, presumably – which planted studs-first on the England captain’s eyebrow.

Never one to shy away from the cameras, Beckham chose against wearing a hat or a pair of his trademark Police sunglasses to training the next day.

Instead, he scraped his hair back behind a hairband, giving the awaiting media throng a good look at his wound, which required two stitches.

Ferguson, however, claimed it was "just a graze".

Santiago Canizares

After spending two major tournaments as Spain’s second-choice goalkeeper, Canizares was poised to finally get the chance to start at the 2002 World Cup.

The Valencia legend then broke a bottle of aftershave in his sink, and a fragment of glass landed on his foot, severing a tendon.

Like the bottle’s contents, the shot-stopper’s hopes of flying to Germany went down the drain.

For a 21-year-old Iker Casillas, an injury had never smelled so sweet.

He sniffed out the opportunity to replace Canizares and took it, holding on to Spain’s No. 1 jersey for the next 14 years.

Kirk Broadfoot

There are a few embarrassing injuries on this list, but only one player truly had egg on his face.

Former Rangers defender Broadfoot was making breakfast when the super-heated egg he had been poaching in the microwave exploded, squirting hot liquid on to his cheek.

That might sound funny, but this yolk was no joke.

The defender was taken to hospital and treated for burns and was discharged later that day.

Fortunately, the injury didn’t cause Broadfoot to miss any football.

Unfortunately, that’s because he was already sidelined for the remainder of the 2008/09 season with a long-term foot problem.

Darius Vassell

You’d have to be a bit of a tool to consider drilling a hole into your toenail to deal with a blood blister.

That’s exactly what Vassell did, though.

The then-Aston Villa striker shunned the club’s qualified medical team and took a more unconventional approach to relieving the pressure on his swollen big toe.

He paid the price with an infection that kept him out of the side for several weeks.

Next time, Darius, don’t do it yourself.

Rio Ferdinand

We’ve all settled in for a marathon video game session at some point.

Not a good idea, though, if you’re a professional footballer.

That’s what Rio Ferdinand learned during his time at Leeds, when he strained tendons in his knee after sitting with his foot on a coffee table for hours while playing Pro Evo.

A gifted defender with height, pace and technique, Rio Ferdinand was always something of a Playstation player.

On this occasion, it cost him.