Premier League - Famous comebacks from injury

Eurosport - Wed, 18 Feb 10:02:00 2009

Eduardo da Silva's triumphant return to action following a year out through injury has left the Arsenal striker with high hopes of regaining his best form.

FOOTBALL 1982 World Cup 1982 France Patrick Battiston injury - 0

But the Croat is not the only one to have made a successful recovery from a terrible injury.

Here we take a look at several other top players who have managed to continue playing at the highest level despite career-threatening knocks - before we highlight a few who were not so lucky in the link under the photo.

Bobby Charlton - Whilst the physical injuries sustained by Charlton were not as severe as some others who survived the horror of the 1958 Munich air disaster, the England legend was nevertheless hospitalised for a week with cuts to his head and severe shock. He recovered, outwardly at least, and went on to become European player of the year, win the World Cup and write his name into folklore at Manchester United. Surely one of the greatest recovery stories of all time.

Patrick Battiston (pictured) - After suffering the mother of all on-field injuries - he slipped into a coma after a sickening collision with Germany goalkeeper Harald Schumacher at the 1982 World Cup left him unconscious, with damaged vertebrae and minus several teeth - the France defender made a miraculous comeback to win four French league titles and two Coupes de France. The recovery was even more impressive considering Michel Platini thought his team-mate was dead at the time of the injury.

Henrik Larsson - The haunting image of Larsson's leg snapping in two places during Celtic's UEFA Cup tie against Lyon in the 1999-2000 season will stay with those who witnessed it for years to come, but the Swede defied the odds and managed to come back from the injury better than ever. Following his return on the final day of the same season, Larsson went on to lead Celtic to a domestic Treble the season after, winning European football's Golden Boot on his way to eventually becoming Celtic's record goalscorer with 242 goals.

Jimmy Bullard - Cruciate ligament injuries may not be what they once were given the advances in recent medical technology but nevertheless the knock suffered by the then-Fulham player against Newcastle back in 2006 was bad enough to raise doubts over his future. But the tenacious midfielder not only came back, he came back better, becoming his team's most influential player and winning an England call-up two years later. His current status? Most likely out for the season with another knee injury.

Petr Cech - Public concern for the Chelsea keeper's health after a collision with Reading's Stephen Hunt in 2006 left him with a fractured skull was unprecedented. Would he survive? Would he walk again, let alone play again? The giant Czech answered those questions in emphatic style by returning to action after three months out and going on to keep eight successive league clean sheets later on that season. He still wears his protective head guard.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport

Comment 2 - 21 of 41

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. with regards to number 23 it could be rumoured he­ nearly broke his hand in the world cup lol no i dont­ like seing any player injured badly just glad eduado is­ back and i hope no other player has to go through that­ and if they do good luck and should use eduado as an­ example

    From OLIVER, on Tue 17 Feb 7:01PM

  2. Seems to reject my long message, i will simply say­ "original ronaldo", look him up and see his­ career records, as well as imjuries

    From d.papas, on Tue 17 Feb 6:53PM

  3. MARADONA IN 1983 WHILE AT BARCELONA HAD HIS LEG BROKEN­ BY BILBAO DEFENDER GOIKOETXEA.HE WAS OUT FOR A YEAR AND­ MOST PEOPLE THOUGHT HE WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME.
    THE­ REST IS HISTORY !
    SEE WHAT SOME GOOD DRUGS WILL DO !

    From jose g, on Tue 17 Feb 6:46PM

  4. Re: silver bullet(13)....you can't really give too­ much stick about the journalist'­ integrity...clearly he, and the rest of the world­ don't give a @#$% about scottish football....at­ least you got a shout!

    From gravy_train77, on Tue 17 Feb 6:33PM

  5. What?? No mention of Bert Trautmann.

    Broke his neck­ in a cup final but kept playing all the while holding­ his neck.

    From Zero, on Tue 17 Feb 6:30PM

  6. Henrik Larsson is actually 3rd on the Celtic all-time­ goal scorers list behind (As stated) Jimmy McGrory and­ Bobby Lennox.

    Obviously I'm totally biased toward­ Celtic but Larsson's is certainly the best­ immediate turnaround (Out of this list), scoring 52­ goals the year after breaking his leg.

    From massonhead, on Tue 17 Feb 6:20PM

  7. Djibril Cisse suffered that horrific injury for­ Liverpool 30 October 2004 when Jay McEveley crunched­ Cisses' leg, breaking it between the knee and the­ ankle. In June 2006, France were preparing for the­ World Cup in Germany (Djibril was included in the­ squad) and they played their final warm up match­ against China on the 7th. He suffered another broken­ leg, ten minutes into the game he was knocked off­ balance by the Chinese captain Zheng Zhi and fell with­ his leg twisting under him (again between the knee and­ the ankle). But now look at Cisse, running his socks­ off with whatever coloured hair for Sunderland in the­ Premier League!

    From jonesy_boy_2, on Tue 17 Feb 6:16PM

  8. What about Deportivo's defender Manuel Pablo's­ dangling leg images on TV.

    From Stephen, on Tue 17 Feb 5:53PM

  9. What about the managers coming back froim injury,­ Ferguson, still recovering from,but doing very well­ from sword cut on the shoulders from being knighted and­ still in the process fo recovering from a­ alcoholic's nose. Sammy Lee however never really­ recovered from a brain transplant, he is stll­ brainless. Then there is Ozzie Ardiles the man who­ never got over his speech impediment not even being­ able to pronounce the team he managed.

    From slivatree, on Tue 17 Feb 5:49PM

  10. What about Harry Kewell's miraculous recovery from­ injury, just in time to play for Liverpool in the 2007­ Champions League final. Typical anti-Liverpool bias!!­ lol

    From Connie, on Tue 17 Feb 5:48PM

  11. Whoever wrote this has no idea about Celtic. Larsson is­ not Celtics record goalscorer, Jimmy McGrory scored­ over 400 goals for the club, that mistake is the signs­ of an the amauteur journalism plain to see at this site

    From Creaven91, on Tue 17 Feb 5:33PM

  12. Ronaldo Got shot at goodison park .Rolled across the­ ground out the gates down the east lancs road back to­ manchester.Finished up in canal st. The gay quarter of­ manchester

    From formby resident, on Tue 17 Feb 5:30PM

  13. Ouch.. I am glad the article said Battiston survived­ cause he doesn't look very healthy on that photo..­ Must have been horrible for his teammates too..

    From sjoerdveer, on Tue 17 Feb 5:30PM

  14. Did anyone mention Djibril Cisse. He also suffered a­ nasty injury, and there he goes week in week out, still­ scoring. Will Drogba ever appreciate the sarcasm behind­ post #3?

    From lajackie1438, on Tue 17 Feb 5:21PM

  15. Sadly they all pale when compared to Bert Trautman of­ Man City who not only broke his neck but carried on­ playing in the same game and then went on tobecome one­ of the best keepers ever.

    From Derek R, on Tue 17 Feb 4:59PM

  16. Bert Trottmans broken neck for Mac City? - Didn't­ he finish the game?

    From RichardC, on Tue 17 Feb 4:58PM

  17. These two articles, career ending injuries and­ comebacks, fail to mention Alan Smith's horror leg­ break a few years back in a match between Man Utd and­ Liverpool at Anfield. The injury was shocking, he was­ out for most of a year, and although he never fully­ recovered his form with Utd the injury didn't end­ his career...I suppose this puts him between the two­ extremes as one of those who neither made a glorious­ comeback nor saw the injury end their playing­ days...Worth a mention though.

    From jonwalker, on Tue 17 Feb 4:57PM

  18. Jimmy Bullard..............Really? C'mon. I broke­ my kneecap when i was 11 but am still playing sunday­ league football, just as impressive.

    From james b, on Tue 17 Feb 4:54PM

  19. the mother of all disasters must have been Dave­ Mackay,s broken leg in 1963 and after a year out­ coming back in a cup winners cup tie and breaking the­ other one in his first match back !! Dave went on to­ win a league championship winners medal with Derby­ after his horrific experiences !!

    From I, on Tue 17 Feb 4:49PM

  20. not to forget didier drogba. after diving and writhing­ in agony over cutting himself on a blade of grass (­ almost every week ) he recovered to ..... oh­ f''k all really. :)

    From geoff k, on Tue 17 Feb 4:38PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account