Bruised, Not Broken

Football is not the most dangerous sport today – the number of injuries reported by athletes active in other areas is far larger – but it’s not the safest sport to play either. Most of the time, the injuries reported by football players are minor – so-called “soft tissue” injuries, especially suffered by the players’ legs. There are, in turn, cases when the injuries are more serious – torn ligaments, fractions, and their likes. These injuries often require surgery, recovery, and weeks of training before the player can get back into the game. These returns are, sometimes, dramatic, spectacular, and worth the wait.

Danny Welbeck

Danny Welbeck started the 2015-2016 season with the wrong foot – literally, as a knee injury has sidelined him for the rest of the year. He didn’t set foot in the playfield until February 2016 when he was thrown into the battle as an 83rd-minute substitute for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – but it was well worth the wait. He made Özil’s free-kick worth by sending the ball head-first into Leicester’s goal, ensuring Arsenal’s victory.

Pelé

Instead of the recent events, let’s look at the past for a while – the glorious past, that is, of Brazilian football legend Pelé. The player considered the best in history struck fear in the hearts of the Brazilian team’s opponents during the 1966 World Cup – and they took action. During Brazil’s match against Bulgaria, Pelé was repeatedly fouled, so much so that he had to miss all other games played by his team. All but one – coach Vicente Feola decided to put him back on active duty for Brazil’s final match against Portugal, in one of the most dramatic comeback stories in football history.

Pelé was still recovering from the beating he took from the Bulgarians and was again fouled Portugal defender João Morais (an action not seen by the referee), so he had to literally limp through the rest of the game (substitutes were not allowed back then). This experience was bad enough for the player to vow never to play in a World Cup ever again.

Aaron Ramsey

Finally, back to Arsenal, and the story of the young midfielder Aaron Ramsey. Toward the end of his second season with the Gunners, the team was playing Stoke City at the Potters’ home. Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross tackled him quite a bit harder than he thought, breaking both bones in his right leg. This fracture kept him off the field for nine months – and even then, he didn’t start a game for months to come.

He was soon as good as new – perhaps even better. He went on to become one of Arsenal’s key players over the years, and one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe. Ironically, he ended his run at the Gunners with an injury.