It was one of those sliding doors moments that arise so often in professional sport. In May 2012, Will Keane and Harry Kane were strike partners for England Under-19s, and at the time, Keane seemed more likely to be preparing for a World Cup semi-final this week. He had just scored two goals in a 5-0 win against Slovenia, five days before a knee injury that sidelined him for 16 months.
"I'd never had any setbacks at that point," Keane says in a chat with BBC Sport. "When you're young, you're fearless. The whole trajectory of my career was up. I made my senior debut [for Manchester United]. We won the Youth Cup. I was doing well for England. Everything was taking off."
“Will Keane and Harry Kane were England Under-19 strike partners; a 16-month injury halted Keane's ascent while Kane soared.”
Fate turned against Keane. He sustained a major knee injury near the end of the game against Switzerland and did not play again for 16 months. In that time, Kane completed loan stints at Norwich and Leicester and broke into the Tottenham team. While Kane now prepares for a World Cup semi-final against Argentina, Keane is at Champneys Springs in Leicestershire, one of 45 players taking part in the PFA's 12-week pre-season camp for out-of-contract players.
Keane reflects on the timing: "Some lads go their whole career and have a few niggles, but nothing derails them too much. That first injury was at a crucial time. I had my foot in the door. The feeling was I would probably have been around the first team. If the injury had happened a couple of years later, I might have been an established squad player. When I had it, I missed 16 months at a crucial part of the transition from reserves to seniors."
At 33, Keane feels he has "a few years" left and has not abandoned hope of adding to his five senior Republic of Ireland caps, having switched youth allegiance from England to the country where his dad was born. He says of the camp: "A couple of lads I know did the camp last season and spoke really highly. I almost feel like I'm part of a squad, and we're away for pre-season. There are so many staff; medical, coaching, administrative, media. It's quite competitive and there are seven or eight games, so clubs can see you're playing. There's an app clubs can sign up to. It's like a PFA transfer list - all our training data goes on it. Clubs can contact us directly, so hopefully if you go somewhere..."
As one former England Under-19 teammate prepares for the biggest game of his career, the other is fighting to rebuild his in a hotel training camp.