Triumph over injury: 4 famous footballers who came back from career-threatening injuries
We’ve all seen a horror tackle and immediately winced, knowing the recipient is probably going to be out for a long, long time. Resident guest expert Kate Richardson takes a look at some of the most significant, heart-warming comebacks of all time, including:
- Neymar
- Christian Eriksen
- Ronaldo
- Alan Shearer
Let’s get into it!
Neymar
Neymar, a hero to even the youngest of Brazilians suffered one of the most dangerous injuries in football back in 2014. Playing in his country’s World Cup quarter-final win over Colombia, the former PSG man received a knee to the spine which fractured a vertebrae, signalling the end of his tournament.
Some argue Brazil would have put up much more of a fight in their humiliating 7-1 loss to Germany in the semi-finals had their star man been on the pitch, but we will never know for sure!
And as many tipsters said, being left without a strong player, the team’s results seriously declined. That year is remembered throughout the world as a serious defeat for Brazil. Fans of sports betting suffered serious losses, as they were confident of a Brazilian defeat.
However, this happens sometimes. And the country managed to rehabilitate itself in the eyes of sports fans and the rest of the world. Bettors in many countries are once again placing bets and making quite significant profits. You can read about the most popular Nigerian betting sites from the ultimate guide experts, MightyTips. And brand experts advise placing only on the most trusted and reliable sites.
Latvian boxer and brand ambassador for MightyTips Jevgenijs “The Hurricane” Aleksejevs said of Neymar’s injury and return to fitness: ”Neymar has a Unique Ability to Recover from Even the Hardest Blows”.
Incredibly, Neymar bounced back, going on to win the treble with Barcelona just a year later. It could be argued that the imperious Brazilian has never truly realised his potential, but achieving what he has after one of the worst injuries in football history speaks volumes. At this stage though, we have to wonder if his famous “I will be a World Cup winner” quote will ever come to fruition.
Christian Eriksen
It’s not often a person survives a cardiac arrest and returns to work fully functional. But that is exactly what happened during Euro 2020 (played in 2021) as the Dane lined up for his national side against Finland. 42 minutes in, the then-Inter Milan player collapsed on the pitch with nobody near him, which immediately signaled something had gone terribly wrong.
Thankfully, his teammates and the medical staff sprung into action and if it wasn’t for immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation, Eriksen probably wouldn’t be on this list today.
As a youth soccer coach in Seattle comments on this situation: “How did Eriksen handle it? He canceled his contract with the team in Italy, then signed a 6-months contract with a much weaker team in England because no other team wanted to take the gamble. He proves everybody wrong and shows that he is still an amazing player, then he joins Manchester United and comes back to the national team”.
The silky Dane made a full recovery, moving back to England to turn out for Brentford, before making his comeback complete by signing for former English football powerhouse, Manchester United, where he plies his trade today. Of course, Eriksen’s wasn’t exactly one of the most dangerous injuries in football, as it can’t be considered a typical injury, but terrifying all the same.
Ronaldo
“Ronaldo was my hero. He was the best striker I’ve ever seen. He was so fast he could score from nothing, and could shoot the ball better than anyone.” Those are the words of footballing God, Lionel Messi.
Sadly, Ronaldo’s career was littered with injuries, some of which are often described as the worst injuries in football history.
One of the worst he suffered was in 2000 as his Inter Milan team took on Lazio in the Coppa Italia final. “O Fenomeno”, or “The Phenomenon” to English speakers was just 6 minutes into his comeback from a ruptured tendon the previous year when another cruel injury struck.
This time, he had ruptured tendons in his knee cap, with his doctor claiming he needed a “miracle” to ever play again. Thankfully, that miracle happened and arguably the best natural striker to ever play the game returned.
Just two years after his horror injury, the legendary striker would lay to rest his ghosts of 1998, lifting the World Cup with the Selecao.
Alan Shearer
Arguably one of the most famous players with ACL injuries, all-time leading Premier League goal scorer Alan Shearer snapped his right anterior cruciate ligament in a match against Leeds United back in 1992 whilst playing for Blackburn Rovers.
At the time, Shearer was widely regarded as one of the hottest properties in English football but was yet to fulfil his potential.
Fact: Receiving possibly the worst injury in football history in his early years, few would have predicted what Shearer would go on to do within the game when all was said and done.
Speaking years later, the man himself admitted: “It was long, lonely and hard work. I wouldn’t have been nice to live with.”
But get through it he did and Shearer now sits proudly atop the list of the Premier League’s highest goal-scorers, with 260 goals; a feat which will surely stand for a long time to come.
These guys have been the victims of some of the worst injuries in football history, but all of them were determined to not let those horrible injuries define them and their careers, which should be applauded.
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