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

Being associated with a lengthy recovery period, a complete rupture of the Achilles tendon is among the injuries most feared by footballers. Pedro Emanuel, currently the coach of Al Fayha in the main Saudi Arabian league, knows this well. On August 11, 2006, during a pre-season game for FC Porto against Manchester City, the then central defender was injured during the warm-up and underwent surgery the following day. "A complete rupture of the Achilles tendon is, as we know, one of the most serious injuries for a football player," said the former defender, agreeing to discuss the situation Nehuén Pérez, also a central defender for FC Porto, is going through. "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 a different recovery than mine, because I was already 31 years old and, therefore, at a different stage of my career," he justified.

In reality, after not playing any matches in 2006/07, Pedro Emanuel returned to the pitch the following season, playing in 27 games for FC Porto. Before that, he underwent a second surgical intervention on his left Achilles tendon to treat a partial necrosis that delayed his recovery. In 2008/09 he played in 15 more games 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 few days are always the hardest to get through, especially psychologically, knowing that we will have a prolonged 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 quite some 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, a 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 must be the focus of all of Nehuén's attention," he concluded.

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