Torn ACL to keep Leonardo sidelined for up to nine months
05 March: The early, post-game diagnosis of Ajax doctor
Edwin Goedhart was confirmed by an MRI scan today: Ajax forward
Leonardo Vitor Santiago has torn the anterior cruciate ligament
(ACL) in his right knee. The Brazilian will require
surgery and then faces a recovery period of up to nine
months. In other words: Leonardo may well be out 'til
Christmas. A nightmare for the player. It is the third
injury of this kind for 'Leo'.
Everybody at the Amsterdam ArenA could see that something
was terribly wrong when Leonardo went down in the 76th minute
of Sunday's Eredivisie encounter with SC Heerenveen, in a
duel with defender Michel Breuer (who, by the way, can not be
blamed for the injury). Leonardo twisted his right knee
and was almost immediately screaming in agony. He had to
be stretchered off, tears trickling down his cheeks.
He knows what it feels like to tear a cruciate ligament.
It happened to him twice before. The last time, in November
2003, when he still played for Feyenoord, it was his left knee.
He was out for well over a year.
Surgery will be required, but Ajax doctor Edwin Goedhart
underscored in newspaper Algemeen Dagblad that
there is no rush. "A week too late is better than a week too
early, in cases like this. He could go under the knife in The
Netherlands, but the United States could also be an option.
That's up to Leonardo himself." The American specialist
Goedhart is thinking of could be Dr Richard Steadman of
the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic in Vail, Colorado. Arguably
the world's most famous surgeon for knee injuries of this kind,
Dr Steadman operated footballers such as Ruud van Nistelrooy,
Roy Keane and - in October 2002 - Ajax defender John
Heitinga.
Leonardo has been an Ajacied for only two and a half months:
his transfer from NAC Breda was finalized on
19 December 2006. Since his official Ajax-1
début, on 21 January 2007 in the Eredivisie home game
against FC Utrecht, he has had 11 appearances for Ajax, in
which he scored three goals in total. Ajax.nl, the official
Ajax website, has launched a special page where Ajax supporters
can submit personal messages to to
wish him speedy recovery. All fan messages will be
collected and presented to Leonardo on Friday 09 March, his
24th birthday.
Leonardo, from everybody at Ajax USA: keep your chin up
- we you know you can do it! Get well
soon! (MP)
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