Footballers can turn their career around in seconds and have injured players set a record several years ago come back after having a brief hiatus due to a serious injury. Their journeys of recovery demonstrate the power of rehabilitation, patience, medical assistance, and perseverance to create a second story.
One is the appearance of the “talking” statue of the artist Santi Cazorla. The Spanish midfielder suffered a lot of problems with his Achilles tendon, infection and several surgeries that lasted 636 days away from competition. Eventually he came home with Villarreal and enjoyed playing again at a high level.
Ronaldo Nazário is another player with a blemished knee that he repaired through the tough pathway. The Brazilian suffered a serious tendon injury and eventually had to undergo surgery for a tendon rupture ending his season long stint away. He finally came back to international football before the 2002 World Cup, and scored on penalty kicks in the last round as Brazil won the cup.
Thibaut Courtois has recently shown himself to be a different kind of ‘healer’. This season he endured two injuries to his knees, but returned for a big part of the rest of his campaign including the Champions League final, where Real Madrid claimed the title.
Here are some tales to emphasize another key fact with which players should be familiar: recovery is very slow. Strength, confidence, movement and match fitness can be rebuilt in months (sometimes many, even years). Playing football at this level can come with pitstops, and for those who suffer major injuries, that’s a journey that might not proceed in one big step.
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