Like the headline says, ouch. OUCH. This is actually painful to watch, though nowhere near as painful as it was for Christian Chivu, who came off much worse after a brutal clash of heads with Chievo forward Sergio Pellissier during a recent Serie A clash match:
The desription of the injury suffered by Chivu, found on Inter’s official website (Spotter’s badge: 101GreatGoals), is equally painful to read:
“The player [Cristian Chivu] sustained a trauma to the right side of the cranium and it provoked some fractures with the collapse of the structure and some blood, but the bruising was contained. The surgery was necessary above all for this bruising and consisted of removing the bone fragments that had fallen towards the brain, emptying out the congealed blood and ensuring it did not form again in future.
“The cranium was reconstructed with the bone of the patient and is back to normal. It all went according to plan, so we are fairly confident he can recover without problems. It is premature to say when he can leave the hospital, but everything is in place for a good recovery.”
Bone fragments, falling towards the brain? Yuck. Get well soon Cristian.
Jose Mourinho also wished his player well, saying: “The important thing is that Cristian is alright, because the man comes before the player.”
Mourinho then compared Chivu’s injury to that suffered by Petr Cech a couple of years ago, when Stephen Hunt’s knee knocked out the Czech goalie. Never one for understatement, the Special One added: “Cech was practically dead. He left the stadium unconscious. Fortunately Chivu’s situation is very different and in fact I have already spoken to him.”
Practically dead?! No wonder Cech still wears the protective helmet.