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The injury: before and after

The 8th of November 1998. The eve of my 24th birthday, Friuli Stadium in Udine. We were on the top of ranking table, alone and winning against Udinese in the game out. The match was almost over. Even today, I still ask myself, why did I have to run after that ball, that was going towards the end of the pitch and I as I was blocked, even if I had reached the ball , I didn’t have any opportunity to score. The useless effort, that I paid dearly: the left knee was broken. I understood immediately that it wasn’t an easy funny thing, but something very serious, the pain was excruciating and like this alone wasn’t enough, right after I left the pitch, Udinese drew and Fiorentina reached us at the first place. Despite numerous injures in the past, typical for all football players, I, in the first place, call that of Udine ‘ The injury’, like it is the only one. Because of it I risked my career and that injury divided my sport life in before and after phases. I broke the knee after five years of constant success and satisfaction both with Juventus and on the personal level.
Then, something went wrong: We lost the Champions final, the World Championship couldn’t be really enjoyed, because of muscle injury, that I got right in the final match against Real, despicable doping accusation of Zeman. And then the injury. The watershed of my career. I was scared. On the 26th of November I was operated in Colorado by Prof. Steadman. Fortunately everything went ok. That was the time to welcome back the hope, the courage and the will to start all over again. Yes, to start from scratch. Rehabilitation, physiotherapy, hard, hard work , learning to live with the pain and then, finally, the first improvements, work again and again, the beginning of training, that day by day was becoming more and more intensive.
Finally I was ready. Only when I came back to the pitch and to the goal, in Cesena, Intertoto competition against Rostelmash, on the 4th of August, 1999, I stopped asking myself why did I follow that ball, in Udine and somehow I understood that it just had to be that way. All what happened, helped me to change and to improve certain things. Both in a man and in a football player. The long pause and all what it brought about, pushed me to grow up as a player and to become stronger from all points of view. Analyzing the facts and the numbers, I found out that I scored even more after the injury, than before it.