David Beckham last night revealed that the World Cup was the one motivation keeping him going through ''the biggest test'' of his career.

A week into treatment for a broken foot suffered in Manchester United's Champions League victory over Deportivo La Coruna, the England skipper delivered an upbeat message in his race to make this summer's finals in Japan.

But the 26-year-old did have bad news for his club, admitting that ''realistically'' he would not be taking part in a Champions League final on May 15 should Sir Alex Ferguson's side come through their semi-final against Bayer Leverkusen.

Beckham said: ''The World Cup is the one thing that's motivating me - it's the light at the end of the tunnel.

''It's the biggest mental test of my career. I haven't had a bad injury before. It's difficult, but I've got to get on with it.

''I've had a few tests over my career, physically and mentally, and I've come through them quite well and this is just another one.

''But there are a load of more important things going on around the world than my left foot.''

Beckham added that missing United's European campaign and the run-in to the Premiership title had been his primary concern.

He added: ''A lot of people have mentioned England, but no-one's mentioned that I'm missing a semi-final in the Champions League and that for me at the moment is the upsetting thing.

''If we did get through to the final then maybe there'd be a chance (of playing), but that's my heart speaking and not my head. I might recover quicker than I think, but realistically, no.''

The midfielder admitted that estimations over his recovery had not changed in the seven days since the injury.

''Unless anything drastically goes wrong they've given me the timescale of six to eight weeks. There's seven weeks to the first game, so we'll have to wait and see.

''I've been in for treatment every day and everyone's doing everything possible. At United you know you've got the best of everything and in my opinion we've got the best doctors and physios, so I'm in good hands and I'm still setting my sights on being fit as quickly as I can.''

Beckham, who said he heard his foot ''crack'' after attempting to apply pressure on the injury moments after the tackle from Deportivo's Pedro Duscher, held no lasting grudge against the Argentinian.

He said: ''I think it was a bad tackle, and people have been saying was it a coincidence he is Argentinian, but the player rang me up and apologised and said he didn't mean to hurt me, and I accepted his apology.''

Beckham added that media coverage of his plight had at times been ''weird'', but that he was grateful for the good wishes he had received.

''I've come to accept that if I've got a new haircut or a new something else it makes front page news, but having my foot on the front page of a national newspaper is a bit weird.