Samu: “There are days when you don’t feel like getting out of bed” | OneFootball

Samu, an FC Porto player, looked back on the serious injury that kept him off the pitch for several months and prevented him from representing Spain at the 2026 World Cup. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper Marca, he spoke about the hardship of recovery and his return in the seventh-round derby against Benfica. A reunion with the game and with the fans that he summed up like this: “It was everything I dreamed of.”

Samu Aghehowa’s journey was marked by lonely training sessions, doubts, and the inability to help his teammates in a season in which FC Porto ended up winning the national title and Spain lifted the World Cup trophy. Now, with the injury behind him, the player looks back with the awareness of someone who has learned to value every training session and every moment on the pitch.

His return came after a lengthy process and on a stage of special significance for the club, the city, and the team. Samu did not hide the emotional weight of the reception he received.

“It was a very long road, but thank God it has finally come to an end. In the end, everything went well,” he said. “Coming back in such an important match for the club, for the city, and for the whole team was very special. I will never forget the way the fans welcomed me. We managed to win the match and in the end everything went well.”

The derby took on even greater importance because it had not originally been part of the plan for his comeback.

“It was everything I dreamed of. It was indescribable. The way the fans welcomed me was incredible, and I will never forget it. It wasn’t planned for me to come back in that match,” he explained. “It was a very happy moment for me and for my family. We had to manage the injury step by step. I thought I would only come back after the international break, but I started to feel good in the previous weeks and the doctors cleared me. It went even better than I expected.”

What could have been just another stage of recovery thus turned into a moment of release. Medical clearance opened the door, but it was the atmosphere of the derby that made the return unforgettable.

Behind that night, however, was an uneven process, marked by ups and downs. Samu described without filters the strain caused by so many months away from competition and his teammates.

“It’s a very long road. There are days when you don’t feel like getting out of bed, others when you take a step and feel that you’re getting closer and closer, but the next day you feel worse again. It’s a mix of emotions. I spent many hours alone, training, while watching my teammates play,” he admitted. “Now I’m aware that you have to make the most of every moment, because we never know what can happen. I really value training with my teammates. There were days when I came to training sad or upset for no reason, and now I value every session. It’s a lesson I’m taking with me: value every moment while we are healthy and able to do what we love.”

The injury changed his perspective on routine. What might once have seemed ordinary came to be seen as a privilege, in a lesson built precisely during his absence.

Tears accompanied both ends of this journey: first, the news that he would not be able to keep playing; then, the feeling of freedom on his return. In between came the missed World Cup, the inability to help the team, and unanswered questions.

“I cried on the day they told me I wouldn’t be able to play anymore. At that moment, a lot of things went through my head. I realized that I wouldn’t be able to take part in the World Cup or help my team in an incredible season, fighting on all fronts. In the end, we became national champions, and I cried seeing my teammates play and knowing that I couldn’t. I asked myself many times, ‘Why me?’ and ‘Why now?’, especially with the World Cup just around the corner,” he lamented. “It was very hard. The last time I cried was when I played again, because I felt free. It’s over now and I can once again do what I love so much.”

Between the tears of the stoppage and the tears of the return, Samu found a new relationship with football. The pain does not disappear from the story, but it now belongs to a chapter that has closed: the present is once again made up of what he loves most.

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