Forward with 28 Sporting appearances reveals battle with cancer | OneFootball

The former Chilean forward Mauricio Pinilla, aged 42, revealed he has been diagnosed with early-stage skin cancer. The former Sporting player, who represented the Alvalade Club between 2004 and 2005, has already started treatment and was hospitalized for four days.

"They ran several tests because of some spots that appeared on my skin and detected skin cancer", he recently communicated during an interview with the radio station La Metro. The former Chilean international explained that the diagnosis came after being hospitalized due to prostatitis.

"I spent four days in the clinic where they did all the tests. Imagine, my white blood cell count skyrocketed", he stated, adding details about the treatment: "This is just the first part, these spots need to be burned off and should disappear soon".

"I am undergoing treatment, yes, I am undergoing the appropriate therapy to resolve this", revealed Mauricio Pinilla. The former Sporting striker - who bets on another goal scorer - linked the condition to "a lot of sun exposure and training" throughout his career.

Besides his brief stint at Alvalade, where he scored seven goals in 28 matches, Mauricio Pinilla is remembered by many for his shot against the crossbar of the Brazilian goal in the final minutes of extra time in the 2014 World Cup round of 16, a play that could have eliminated the host nation. In that tournament, the forward, then a substitute used by Jorge Sampaoli, participated in three games without scoring.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.