Ever since 2006, when Wayne Rooney hit the turf clutching his ankle with the World Cup only weeks away, England's pundits have tagged an extra word onto the bone that he fractured. Overnight, the metatarsal became the 'dreaded metatarsal'. While it's not the worst injury that football can bestow upon you, it's the one that we've managed to hang the blame of a woeful World Cup performance on, hence it becoming a cliche that has endured for an entire decade. In that time, however, we've accepted that we cannot blame England's terrible international showings on tropical weather, corrupt officials and inadequate hotels. Surely, then, it's time to retire the cliche that blames a three-inch toe bone for the fact that its owner stamped on a rival player's groin and got sent off.
