Léo Ortiz on injury recovery: "It's a very serious injury…" | OneFootball

Flamengo Defender Reveals He’s Feeling Better and More Confident to Return to the Pitch

The main question in Flamengo’s lineup for their Intercontinental debut is who will partner with Léo Pereira: Danilo or Léo Ortiz. The number 3 hasn’t played since the Libertadores semifinal against Racing (ARG), but he has recovered from his ankle injury.

On the eve of the Intercontinental Cup debut against Cruz Azul (MEX), Léo Ortiz spoke again about his current situation. The defender now feels ready to return to the pitch, something he admitted he’s missed. In addition, the number 3 stated that he’s feeling better every day.

— I’m feeling better and better. I think these training sessions over the last few weeks, both before the Libertadores final and now before the World Cup and during this week of the Brasileirão, have been very important. It’s a really annoying injury, one of the worst I’ve ever had. Even as you come back, you still feel some discomfort during training, during matches, — he said, before adding:

— So, it’s about how you deal with it. These tougher training sessions I’m doing with the group now are important for me to feel more and more confident about coming back. And as I said, every day is getting better and I’m feeling good to return to the field soon, because I already miss it, — he concluded, in an interview with FlamengoTV.

What happened to Léo Ortiz?

In short, Léo Ortiz twisted his ankle in a match against Palmeiras in the Brasileirão on October 19. Despite this, even injured, the defender pushed through and faced Racing (ARG) ten days later in the Libertadores semifinals.

However, after that, Léo Ortiz didn’t play again for Flamengo. In the meantime, the defender only returned to training with the squad the week before the Libertadores final. Although he recovered in time, Filipe Luís chose Danilo as a starter in the South American tournament final against Palmeiras.

This is because Léo Ortiz hasn’t played for over a month. Now, the defender is competing for a spot with Danilo, who scored Flamengo’s title-winning goal in the Libertadores. Thus, the coach will decide the starting lineup to face Cruz Azul in Tuesday’s (09) training session.

What is Flamengo’s next match?

With Léo Ortiz available, Flamengo faces Cruz Azul this Wednesday (10), starting at 2 p.m. (Brasília time), in Doha, Qatar. In short, if they win, the Red-and-Black advance in the competition and will face Pyramids (EGY) in the next round.

Finally, if they also win the second match, Flamengo will face PSG (FRA) in the Intercontinental final, scheduled for December 17. It’s worth noting that Rede Globo, on free-to-air TV, as well as GE TV (YouTube) and Cazé TV (YouTube) will broadcast Flamengo’s participation in the World Cup.

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