With a tweet Kevin De Bruyne said this morning that his nose is broken and that he has a fracture in his eye socket due to the “professional” obstruction of Chelsea defender Antonio Rüdiger.
For De Bruyne, the final went up in smoke after the incident. But the question everyone is now asking is what this injury means with a view to the European Championship that will kick off in just under two weeks.
Doctor Johan Bellemans is an orthopedic surgeon and Chief Medical Officer of the BOIC. He tries to assess the seriousness of the situation.
“It all depends a bit: has only the bone been hit or is there also damage to the internal structure of De Bruyne’s eye? The degree of bleeding also plays a role, and especially whether an operation should follow or not” Bellemans tells Sporza.
“The fact that Kevin De Bruyne was allowed to leave the hospital immediately does not mean much in itself. Such injuries are food for specialists. are not present. Often people also wait a few days until the bleeding and the first injuries have regressed (understand: reduced, ed.). “
“It is important to know whether the eye socket and the fracture at the nose have been displaced, because with the slightest displacement it is usually decided to correct the fracture and fix it in place with a plate and screws,” continues Professor Bellemans.
“If there is no displacement, there is usually no need for surgery. At least if the internal damage to the soft tissues of the eye is not too bad. The recovery can go quite smoothly. But even with an operation in this case, the player can be quite quickly playing football again.”
The European Championship starts in two weeks. Bellemans: “In principle, that date should be feasible for De Bruyne. Very likely he will then play with a mask. It then comes down to being a little bit careful, but in principle that should work.”
“So I am quite hopeful, yes. Also because there was no communication about an operation. If there would have been a major displacement, they would normally have communicated about it now. So I assume that De Bruyne will be available for the first match at the European Championship. “
