Pedro Emanuel has same injury as Nehuén Pérez: “First days toughest” | OneFootball

Being associated with a long recovery period, a complete rupture of the Achilles tendon is among the most feared injuries by footballers. Pedro Emanuel, currently the coach of Al Fayha in the main league of Saudi Arabia, knows this all too well. On August 11, 2006, during a pre-season game of FC Porto against Manchester City, the then central defender injured himself during the warm-up and was operated on the next day. "A complete rupture of the Achilles tendon is, as we know, one of the most serious injuries for a football player," declared the former defender, agreeing to discuss the situation of Nehuén Pérez, also a central defender of FC Porto. "The advantage for Nehuén is that he is still a young player and his recovery will be faster," added the 50-year-old coach. This optimism has a simple explanation: "His body will allow him to have a different recovery from mine, because I was already 31 years old and, therefore, was at a different stage of my career," he explains.

In reality, after not having played any matches in 2006/07, Pedro Emanuel returned to the fields in the following season, playing 27 matches for FC Porto. Before that, he underwent a second surgical intervention on the left Achilles tendon to treat a partial necrosis that delayed his recovery. In 2008/09 he played in 15 more matches for the dragons, before ending his career. "The first impact is always hard to bear," said Pedro Emanuel, explaining what he expects Nehuén will face in the coming weeks. "These first days are always the hardest to overcome, especially psychologically, knowing that we will have a long stop and that we will start a process where we are fighting against ourselves. Recovery is based on this," he added.

The former defender, now coach, stressed the need to combine patience and courage. "Each day is a day, the process is slow and, therefore, you have to be very focused and well supported so that, in moments of weakness, on days when we are down, we always have support, whether it is family or professional, as it was with me at the time," he highlighted. "I had two surgeries, because the first one did not go well and we had to resort to the second, and I was stopped for a long time. I know that this is a delicate moment in our career, it is always that moment that any player does not want to appear, but, when it does, we have to find a solution," recalled Pedro Emanuel, before referring to the Argentine central defender, who was discharged from the hospital yesterday, one day after being operated on, 48 hours after suffering the serious injury in the second half of FC Porto-Nacional. "It seems to me that Nehuén is a player who has always shown this fiber, this grit and, naturally, this is a great help for the recovery process."

Finally, Pedro Emanuel emphasized that the recovery will be slow: "We know it is a lengthy process, but at the same time it is something that forces us to overcome ourselves, as I said before, we are fighting against ourselves and this daily operation has to be the focus of all Nehuén's attention," he concluded.

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