Sad day.
Real Madrid and Spain midfielder Ruben de la Red has been forced to retire, due to a persisting heart condition. That suuuuuuuuuux!
The player became aware of the problem when he collapsed during a Copa del Rey match back in October 2008, almost two years ago exactly. He immediately went into treatment and ended up deciding to spend the 2009-10 season recuperating.
Still showing the effects of the condition, de la Red’s physicians have strongly recommended that he remain off of the pitch permanently. This came as a huge blow to the 25-yr old, whose best days were surely still to come.
The silver lining, though, is that he has been offered a coaching position in the youth ranks of Real Madrid’s organization. So, he will not be walking away from the game completely, thankfully.
Condolences, Ruben! Yours is a truly unfortunate circumstance.
Below are his tearful retirement announcement and his spectacular goal against Greece in Euro 2008.
Holy crap!
U.D. Salamanca midfielder Miguel Garcia collapsed this week in a match against Real Betis. It was a scary moment with many fearing the worst. Luckily, the player has stabalized and survived. Unfortunately, he’s been advised to retire from the game.
While losing Paul the Octopus today was superficially sad, this is truly devastating news. Our thoughts will be with you, Miguel!
A few scary videos of Miguel collapsing:
As if breaking Stuart Holden’s leg in a friendly last year wasn’t enough… And, as if karate-kicking Xabi Alonso in the World Cup final reeeeally wasn’t enough…
Nigel de Jong has done it again.
In Manchester City’s win over Newcastle this weekend, Nigel de Jackass came in hard on Hatem Ben Arfa, breaking his tibia and fibula. Sadly, the tackle wasn’t even penalized.
This guy is a real asshole.
Check out video from his three bruiser moments, all taking place in 2010:
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWIIIIIIIIIIEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Holy crap! Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia suffered a horrific leg break in his team’s Champions League game against Rangers earlier this week. The destruction is looking so bad that it seems he’ll likely miss most of this season, which suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks!!!
In case you haven’t yet seen footage of the horror tackle, you can check it out here. WARNING: this is not for the faint of heart.
Kaka has had a pretty wack year, you’ve gotta say. He fails to shine as a merengue in Madrid, disappointing throngs of fickle fans. He fails to lead co-favorites Brazil to World Cup glory, most notably picking up a red card against the Ivory Coast. And now, the latest in his year of drama? Major knee surgery!
RealMadrid.com reports:
“The operation performed on the left knee of Real Madrid C. F.’s Ricardo Izecson Dos Santos Leite ‘Kaka’ by Dr. Marc Martens at Antwerp’s AZ Monica Hospital was a success.
The arthroscopic surgery confirmed an injury to the left meniscus with minimal inflammation of the cartilage. The player is expected to miss three to four months.“
And, today’s cover from Marca.com:
Italy playmaker Andrea Pirlo is due to miss his team’s first two matches against Paraguay and New Zealand, after straining a calf muscle. While it would have been nice — for his team’s sake — for the perfectly-quaffed gent to participate in these matches, it could matter less. Italy landed in the easiest group of the World Cup’s first round. They should progress blind-folded, running backwards, only playing with their off-feet.
Filed under: 2) USA! USA!, 5) World Cup 2010, 8) OWIE!!! (Injuries), England, Germany, Netherlands
The world’s superstars are dropping like flies heading into this week’s World Cup in South Africa. The latest name being added to the list of fallen heroes: Portugal Winger – Nani .
Cristiano Ronaldo’s countryman will not be doing this:
Nor this:
Other faces with tournament-threatening owies:
Ivory Coast Striker – Didier Drogba
England Defender – Rio Ferdinand
Netherlands Winger – Arjen Robben
Ghana Midfielder – Michael Essien
Germany Midfielder – Michael Ballack
USA Striker – Charlie Davies
England Winger – David Beckham
An FA source on John Terry’s injury:
“It is nowhere near as bad as everyone thought…
“It is great news, it is not the metatarsal at all…
“It is a minor ligament injury and he might even be fit for the Cup final on Saturday. It is a big relief to Fabio Capello, but there is no worries now that John Terry’s training ground injury will keep him out of the World Cup.”
John Terry went down in training with a foot injury. He was rushed to the hospital. It wasn’t a break, but his World Cup chances are in doubt.
More coming soon!
<<READ MORE>> BBC reports.
