How Mike Tyson helped inspire Danny Welbeck's fightback from Euros injury heartbreak to earn England World Cup spot
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Danny Welbeck will have no problems dealing with the long, empty hours of a World Cup camp… he once had to spend two months mostly on his backside.
While his England team-mates were heading out to Euro 2016, Welbeck was beginning an eight-month rehabilitation from another serious knee injury.
That is why World Cup 2018 will be all the sweeter for one of the most popular players in the England squad.
“If you get a big injury, it is not easy at all to deal with,” says Welbeck. “At the time, I didn’t think it would be that bad but after you’ve had it checked out and had the surgery, you know you are going to be out for a long time.
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
(Image: AFP/Getty)
“That is pretty hard to take, especially after I’d been out the season before with a knee injury.
“It’s difficult. It’s a lonely period. You are doing what you love doing. You play football for a reason. I am passionate about it.”
Even by the standards of this smiley squad, Welbeck is an upbeat character and he has managed to take the positives out of his injury struggles.
(Image: Getty)
He recalls: “I couldn’t put weight on my leg for two months so I was just sitting around reading books.
“But I read more books then than I did when I was in school - sports mentality books and autobiographies. I read a few autobiographies, not just football. I like the Mike Tyson one. He’s a mad man, he’s a fighter.”
So is Welbeck a fighter?
(Image: PA)
“I’m not just a fighter, I like to give love as well. I’m a lover too,” he laughs. “But you fight for competition in sports and you kind of see in different athletes and players different mentalities and you take bits from each one.”
Heading to Russia, England will certainly need a positive mentality after the calamities of Brazil four years ago and France 2016.
While Welbeck missed the disaster in France, he is one of only five veterans of England’s last World Cup campaign.
(Image: Getty)
“That was a disappointing tournament for us,” he said, with considerable understatement. “But this squad can’t be carrying the burden of disappointments and the negative side of things.
“We have such a great, attack-minded squad and the players are going to up their games. We don’t want to set any limits on what we can do in this tournament.”
That has become the mantra of this squad, one in which Welbeck, at the age of 27, can consider himself a senior professional.
“We were just chatting about that - me, Youngy and Phil Jones,” he said. “The environment has changed with the new manager and new players, but the squad is very exciting with a lot of talented players in each and every single position.
(Image: AFP/Getty)
“You can see in training how intense it is and how competitive everybody is. We demand a lot from each other as well.”
It is certainly competitive enough for Welbeck not to be considered a favourite to start the opening group match against Tunisia on June 18.
But the Arsenal man, who started two of three games at the ill-fated tournament four years ago, is determined to force his way in.
He says: “I want to be there, competing for a place. I want to make an impact on the pitch.
(Image: PA Wire)
“Obviously, it is a proud moment to be called up for an England squad and it is something that I have done since I was 14 or 15 - been called up – and I still get a buzz, but I don’t just want to be picked for the squad.”
One of the books Welbeck particularly enjoyed during his long recovery was the work Relentless , by famed sports psychologist Tim Grover.
Its full title is Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable .
Might be a good idea if Danny lends it to the rest of the squad before the big kick-off.