Former Arsenal goalkeeper Rami Shaaban has opened up on the injury that prevented him from making another appearance for the club.
After joining the Gunners in the summer of 2002 from Swedish first division side Djurgardens, Shaaban was enjoying a fine run of form for Arsene Wenger's side.
The stopper had kept clean sheets in the Champions League and the north London derby during the opening months of the season, and the Swede was preparing to celebrate Christmas with his family who had flown into London from his homeland.
But in the space of a few seconds, everything changed for the goalkeeper, with his life being turned upside down as a result.
“There was suddenly this big bang,“ Shaaban told Goal.
“It sounded like a shin pad had broken or something.”
However the damage was much more serious than that, with Shaaban fracturing both the tibia and fibula bones in his right leg.
“It was Martin Keown,” he added. “It’s not surprising maybe that it was him, but he was on my team. It was just a freak accident.
“Dennis [Bergkamp] tried to lob me, I went backwards and tipped the ball onto the underside of the bar and as I was on the ground, I tried to kick it away with my foot and at the same time Martin tried to clear it, but he cleared my leg instead.
“I didn’t feel any instant pain and I saw Martin strolling around, so I thought to myself, what was that? Then after a few seconds I started to feel my whole leg go numb, like when you sleep on your arm.
“Then I saw my players running to me and I saw their faces, they all went pale because they could see my leg was totally disconnected.
“I remember my mum was in London because we were going to celebrate Christmas that day. I called her from the ambulance and told her I had broken my leg and she thought I was joking. I had to tell her like 10 times.”
