Alexia Putellas (right) scored Spain’s only goal in the 1-1 draw against Italy in the last friendly before the European Championship.
Photo: imago / Cinzia Camela
The clacking of the crutches sounded in terrifying monotony. But only with these was Alexia Putellas able to get out of the elevator, down a long corridor, through the door and into the minibus that took the Spanish world footballer to King Edward VII’s Hospital in Marylebone in central London. Spain’s football association spread the video sequence via Twitter before the bitter news followed: Alexia, who has long since become a style icon in women’s football, has suffered a cruciate ligament rupture. It is a failure that misses this EM in England before the start of a violent mood killer.
The fact that the captain of “La Furia Roja” is missing even pushed the daily rumblings of the men from FC Barcelona or Real Madrid onto the back pages of Spanish sports gazettes: “Drama Alexia!” was the title of “Sport”, and wrote of a “broken dream” AS«. With record goalscorer Jennifer Hermoso injured as a second top performer, the Spaniards playing against Germany on July 12 are no longer one of the favourites. A star burns up before the EM opens.
The drama happened at the end of a training session ahead of the group opener against Finland, when the Barcelona star tried to pass the ball with her right hand and felt a ‘crack’ in her left foot. “It’s just unfair that things like this happen,” complained national coach Jorge Vilda. “I’m stunned and shocked.” The coach now has to change the entire statics of his eleven in no time at all. The 28-year-old from FC Barcelona was at the center of Spain’s game. Like no other, she spotted the right moment to play or finish. She has often said that she copied a lot of her gift from watching a Rivaldo, Andres Iniesta or Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou. Like these former Barça stars, she enjoys alternating roles between preparer and finisher. She developed a special admiration for Xavi Hernandez, today the men’s head coach at FC Barcelona.
The Catalan from Mollet del Vallès is a pioneer in her country. When she was a child, there was only a rudimentary structure in the Barça girls’ youth academy. At the age of twelve she even had to leave her heart club because there was no adequate team for her.
When she returned at 18 after stints with local rivals Espanyol and UD Levante, her father Jaume, who got her excited about football in the first place, had died. Since then she has lived even more for the sport. Today she is called »La Reina«, the Queen; she is immortalized on advertising posters and murals in Barcelona.
Uefa recently named Alexia the best player in the Champions League. She shone en route to the final against Real Madrid (5-2) and VfL Wolfsburg (5-1) in the packed Camp Nou when she got teary-eyed at the overwhelming fan response.
But now it is not even certain whether Spain’s number 14 will even be able to play the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in August 2023. Your injury is treacherous, and female soccer players in particular often need far more than the usual six months to fully heal. Several scientific studies also show that women suffer a cruciate ligament rupture more often than men. The women’s soccer magazine “Elfen” dedicated the multi-page report “Endstation Kreuzband” to the topic in the current issue. Explanations range from anatomy to hormone balance to periods. The authors state that there is still no clarity. Again and again, cruciate ligament tears would end the careers of far too young female footballers. In the case of Alexia, even the dreams of a whole team come to an end.
