Villarreal captain Bruno Soriano has explained how he feels that he was robbed of part of his life by his three years of injury hell.
Prior to Monday night’s La Liga draw against Sevilla, the central midfielder had not played a competitive game for the club since a 3-1 victory at Valencia in May 2017 and had been out over three years of action with recurring knee injuries.
Soriano appeared as an 87th minute substitute during the clash and is likely to play a role in the seven matches remaining of the campaign, although he is likely to leave as a free agent this summer.
“I will never forget what I have been through. I will always have this thorn nailed there. Years will pass and I will always remember this,” Soriano told an interview with El Pais.
“Over these three years I have suffered a lot. I cannot say that I have lost three years of my life, but a part of it yes, because I have not been able to enjoy it.
“I have tried to pull forward with the help of many people. But in the end it is football, there are much more serious things that are worse for others. If I could not continue, then I retire and that’s it.
“No footballer injured for so long has returned. I, too, have sometimes considered not going back, turning away and making way for young people.
“But when you think that a treatment can go well, you trust that you can return to training with your teammates and play a few more games. I had the hope of returning and the fortune that (Villarreal boss, Javi) Calleja has given me that opportunity and confidence, understanding my situation. Of course, the club have too. Together we have succeeded.
“I decided to write down everything that was happening to me and one day be able to teach it. I have documentation, photos, treatments…someday I will bring it to light so that everyone knows what has happened to me.”
The defensive midfielder has spent the entirety of his career at the Yellow Submarine and has clocked up 418 first-team appearances for the club, alongside winning 10 caps for the Spanish national team.
It had been expected that the experienced midfielder would sit out the entirety of the 2019-20 campaign but the three month suspension of football has allowed him to recover for the final stretch of the season.
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“Bruno Fernandes told me that, as a kid, he had a poster of me. He said that when he played Football Manager he always signed me. I was like, ‘You had me on a poster? And, seriously, you sign me for FM?’ I mean, how weird is that?” – Find out who said this right here.
