Eduardo revels comeback joy
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Arsenal striker Eduardo spoke for the first time at length about the trauma and anguish he endured as he battled to recover from Birmingham defender Martin Taylor’s hideous challenge.
The Croatian star’s nightmare began last February when his fibula was snapped and he suffered an open dislocation of his ankle in a moment of horror that was so frightening that Sky TV refused to run replays of the incident.
Some over-the-top fans even sent death threats to Taylor because the injury to Eduardo was one of the worst ever witnessed.
But exactly 359 days after the horrendous incident, Eduardo made a spectacular comeback by scoring two goals in Arsenal’s 4-0 FA Cup triumph over Cardiff.
He told The Sun: "When I played against Cardiff in the FA Cup and scored twice the other night after so long out, I felt like I was reborn.
"On February 23 it will be exactly a year since my accident. I have gone through a lot of emotions and a lot of hard work but hearing the fans sing my name at The Emirates was a magical moment.
"When the tackle at Birmingham came in, it didn’t feel too bad, it just felt as if I had twisted my ankle. But I went down and all of a sudden there was a big fuss around me.
"Lots of people were talking and I heard someone say I could lose my foot. I wondered what they meant.
"I lay there, I didn’t even try to wriggle my toes, I forgot about the pain, I forgot about everything.
"At that moment, I was so uncertain of the future. I was gripped by fear. I was unsure of what would happen. Medics gave me pain relief, so much pain relief — morphine — that my head went a bit dizzy and I can remember holding on to the arm of our physio very tightly during the journey.
"Within an hour of reaching the hospital I was being prepared for my operation. The surgeon was fantastic, I’m told that he had worked a lot with soldiers who were injured during conflict.
"He put a metal plate in to help repair my fibula. That — and the screws holding it in place — will stay inside my leg for ever.
"The first person I saw when I came round after the surgery was my wife, Andreja. It was so good to see her face and at that precise moment I made a decision that I would be back playing football no matter what happened.
"Motivation to beat the injury came from Andreja, my daughter Lorena, my family and everyone who was helping me get over the injury."
When he scored his first goal against Cardiff, he ran to the touchline and gave Arsenal fitness coach Tony Colbert a big bearhug.
The player explained: "Tony was there doing all the physical recovery work with me. He played a big part.
"But, in truth, when I scored I wanted to give everyone a big hug. I wanted to hug everyone at Arsenal who had helped me. I wanted to hug the doctors who operated on me, the nurses who looked after me and, of course, all my family.
"It was a long haul back to fitness. After weeks in plaster I encased my ankle in a special plastic boot full of air pillows and even then I had to walk with crutches.
"The hardest part was going to training and seeing the rest of the squad running, laughing and joking, kicking a ball. I had to bide my time.
"I’ll never forget when I kicked a ball again for the first time. I was smiling, I really thought I’d be able to play a full match the following day.
"When I made my first tackle, I wasn’t nervous. I behaved as normal, as if nothing had happened to me.
"The boss Arsène Wenger was of course very good to me. And he was patient. I was never rushed.
"Before I played on Monday, I’d only played two reserve games but Mr Wenger knew I was eager and ready. He waited until five o’clock to tell me I’d be starting the match.
"Many things went through my mind but none of my thoughts were negative. When I walked out through the tunnel, it was the best feeling ever.
"And when I heard the crowd sing my name, it was special. The chants of ‘Eduardo, Eduardo’ meant I was back."
However, Eduardo still struggles to understand why he still has not received an apology from the man who shattered his ankle 12 months ago.
He said: "Some friends told me he was saying he’d spoken to me — but he never did. I’ve never met him.
"And someone at Arsenal received an email from him when I played for the reserves at Barnet a short while back and it said he was pleased I was playing again.
"I have received lots of mail from other people. I’ve had around 25,000 emails — from Croatia, Brazil and England — wishing me a speedy recovery and I’ve had letters by the sackful.
"But he’s never sent anything directly to me."
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The Croatian star’s nightmare began last February when his fibula was snapped and he suffered an open dislocation of his ankle in a moment of horror that was so frightening that Sky TV refused to run replays of the incident.
Some over-the-top fans even sent death threats to Taylor because the injury to Eduardo was one of the worst ever witnessed.
But exactly 359 days after the horrendous incident, Eduardo made a spectacular comeback by scoring two goals in Arsenal’s 4-0 FA Cup triumph over Cardiff.
He told The Sun: "When I played against Cardiff in the FA Cup and scored twice the other night after so long out, I felt like I was reborn.
"On February 23 it will be exactly a year since my accident. I have gone through a lot of emotions and a lot of hard work but hearing the fans sing my name at The Emirates was a magical moment.
"When the tackle at Birmingham came in, it didn’t feel too bad, it just felt as if I had twisted my ankle. But I went down and all of a sudden there was a big fuss around me.
"Lots of people were talking and I heard someone say I could lose my foot. I wondered what they meant.
"I lay there, I didn’t even try to wriggle my toes, I forgot about the pain, I forgot about everything.
"At that moment, I was so uncertain of the future. I was gripped by fear. I was unsure of what would happen. Medics gave me pain relief, so much pain relief — morphine — that my head went a bit dizzy and I can remember holding on to the arm of our physio very tightly during the journey.
"Within an hour of reaching the hospital I was being prepared for my operation. The surgeon was fantastic, I’m told that he had worked a lot with soldiers who were injured during conflict.
"He put a metal plate in to help repair my fibula. That — and the screws holding it in place — will stay inside my leg for ever.
"The first person I saw when I came round after the surgery was my wife, Andreja. It was so good to see her face and at that precise moment I made a decision that I would be back playing football no matter what happened.
"Motivation to beat the injury came from Andreja, my daughter Lorena, my family and everyone who was helping me get over the injury."
When he scored his first goal against Cardiff, he ran to the touchline and gave Arsenal fitness coach Tony Colbert a big bearhug.
The player explained: "Tony was there doing all the physical recovery work with me. He played a big part.
"But, in truth, when I scored I wanted to give everyone a big hug. I wanted to hug everyone at Arsenal who had helped me. I wanted to hug the doctors who operated on me, the nurses who looked after me and, of course, all my family.
"It was a long haul back to fitness. After weeks in plaster I encased my ankle in a special plastic boot full of air pillows and even then I had to walk with crutches.
"The hardest part was going to training and seeing the rest of the squad running, laughing and joking, kicking a ball. I had to bide my time.
"I’ll never forget when I kicked a ball again for the first time. I was smiling, I really thought I’d be able to play a full match the following day.
"When I made my first tackle, I wasn’t nervous. I behaved as normal, as if nothing had happened to me.
"The boss Arsène Wenger was of course very good to me. And he was patient. I was never rushed.
"Before I played on Monday, I’d only played two reserve games but Mr Wenger knew I was eager and ready. He waited until five o’clock to tell me I’d be starting the match.
"Many things went through my mind but none of my thoughts were negative. When I walked out through the tunnel, it was the best feeling ever.
"And when I heard the crowd sing my name, it was special. The chants of ‘Eduardo, Eduardo’ meant I was back."
However, Eduardo still struggles to understand why he still has not received an apology from the man who shattered his ankle 12 months ago.
He said: "Some friends told me he was saying he’d spoken to me — but he never did. I’ve never met him.
"And someone at Arsenal received an email from him when I played for the reserves at Barnet a short while back and it said he was pleased I was playing again.
"I have received lots of mail from other people. I’ve had around 25,000 emails — from Croatia, Brazil and England — wishing me a speedy recovery and I’ve had letters by the sackful.
"But he’s never sent anything directly to me."
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Related links:
Team
Personal
Also see:
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