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We know it as the beautiful game. And yet, soccer has had more than its share of horrible moments.
Argentina bulldozed team USA Tuesday, but it wasn’t all rainbows for La Albiceleste in Houston. Forward Ezequiel Lavezzi had a good game for Argentina. He netted the first goal of the match and was helping the visitors control the tempo of the game and dominate the American squad.
Nevertheless, a long ball changed Lavezzi’s day. The forward ran backward in an attempt to keep the ball from going out of bounds but ended up falling over one of the advertisement boards.
The ugly fall resulted in Lavezzi breaking his left elbow.
The ugly truth is that injuries like this are not as rare as fans and players would hope them to be.
Most of the time there is another side dealing the injury blow, but accidents like Lavezzi’s also happen.
Here are a pair of recent injuries soccer fans might still dread to remember.
Petr Cech — Reading v Chelsea, October 14, 2006
Have you ever wondered why Petr Cech wears that helmet? There is a good reason behind it, one that nearly took a fatal turn for Cech.
Chelsea was playing Reading when, suddenly, a play that seemed to be nothing more than a dangerous challenge by a striker turned into a nightmare.
Irish midfielder Stephen Hunt went for the ball, trying to save it from going out of bounds, but instead of hitting the ball, Hunt smashed his knee on Cech’s head. The Chelsea goalkeeper suffered a severe concussion and had to be rushed to the hospital to undergo surgery for a depressed fracture of the skull.
Cech miraculously recovered in only three months, and was back in the starting lineup, despite the doctors predicting his return to soccer would take more than a year.
Ever since then, he uses the helmet that became one of his signatures on the field.
Interestingly enough, Cech has expressed his desire to play without the helmet, but his doctors prohibited him from doing so.
“'I would be more confident if I had it off. If you like it or not, the helmet affects your surroundings,” Cech told Tyden.
“You have your ears covered, and it makes hearing worse."
“But the doctor has forbidden me to take off the helmet. If I did, I would not pay insurance.”
Eduardo — Birmingham v Arsenal, September 23, 2008
Arguably one of the most visually terrifying injuries to be seen on a soccer field, the injury that left Arsenal striker Eduardo sidelined for almost a year was one few Arsenal fans will ever forget.
This injury was the aftermath of a horrific challenge by Birmingham defender Martin Taylor, who managed to miss the ball completely and deliver a devastating hit to the Croatian’s ankle.
Eduardo had his leg broken. The striker also suffered from an open dislocation of his left ankle.
