Asenjo, Cazorla and Bruno: Overcoming adversity
Villarreal goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo and midfielders Bruno Soriano and Santi Cazorla have shown strength and resilience after returning to the pitch after a multitude of injuries.
Asenjo’s adversity began in 2009 with meniscus damage that put him out of the game for three months. In May 2010, after moving from Valladolid to Atlético Madrid, he faced another injury tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee. Asenjo was out for six months, before moving on loan to Málaga where he soon suffered yet another ACL injury in February 2011.
Then in April 2015, playing for Villarreal CF, Asenjo ruptured his right ACL for the third time keeping him out for a total of 41 matches. Asenjo told Marca that “they are long lessons, they are difficult times, but you always have to think that something good is coming.” Asenjo worked diligently to get back on the field despite repeated injury.
In an interview with El Confidencial in 2017, he explained, “I’ve gone through tough times, but I always believed in myself. I come from workers, simple people who struggled to keep the family going and I carry that gene. I see life as a hard fight against oneself to be better every day.” Asenjo’s career took off after his transfer back to Villarreal in 2014. Nonetheless, he suffered a fourth major knee injury in February 2017 with an ACL tear in his left knee, keeping him off the pitch for nearly 200 days.
Asenjo’s hard work and dedication have proven to be the keys to him being successful in the midst of setbacks. On 13th June 2020 he kept his 68th clean sheet in 204 games with the Yellow Submarine, making him the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in Villarreal CF’s history.
Cazorla similarly faced multiple injuries early in his career including a fractured tibia during the 2008/09 season and a back injury causing him to miss the 2010 World Cup. He was also out of the game for over 90 days as a result of a knee injury late in the 2015/16 season.
His most noteworthy injury was certainly the damage done to his Achilles tendon during the Champions League Group stage in October 2016. After discovering that 10cm of Cazorla’s Achilles tendon had been eaten away by bacteria, his doctors predicted he may never play again. However, his tendon was able to be reconstructed through surgery and the insertion of a metal plate.
“At times, I’d be ready to give up,” said Cazorla in his interview with The Guardian. Despite his various challenges, he returned to action in August 2018 after transferring from Arsenal to Villarreal .
Recovering just in time for the beginning of the 2018/19 campaign, Cazorla started in 30 out of the 38 LaLiga matches Villarreal played that season. That great run continued in the 2019/20 season, with the magician making numerous assists and goals throughout his second campaign back in Spain.
“I have fought for all this and now I have to make the most of it. And I can’t be so selfish as to say football hasn’t been good to me. There are moments when you think you’ve had bad luck — this injury, I also missed a World Cup — but football has given me loads of things and I have to be grateful for everything I’ve experienced up until now and all the things that I think are still to come,” said Cazorla in an interview with The Daily Mail.
Bruno Soriano, current captain for the Yellows, certainly faced his share of challenges as well due to a serious injury. He made his first team debut for Villarreal back in July 2006 after coming through the youth ranks. He knew since he was a young boy that he did not want to play professional football unless he played for Villarreal. He is greatly admired among the football world for his loyalty to the club, and he currently holds the record for the most matches played for Villarreal CF in club history.
In his first ten years of playing for the first team, Bruno faced only a few minor injuries and a fibula fracture in February 2015 keeping him out of the game for nearly three months. In May 2017 however, Bruno had a knee injury. What was suspected to be a quick recovery kept him out of play for over three years. His teammates and fans awaited his return with great anticipation.
After already missing two seasons, Bruno was expected to miss the 2019/20 campaign as well. Fortunately, due to the three-month break in the season, Bruno recovered in time to make the Yellows’ matchday squad on June 19th, 2020.
On 22nd June 2020, 1,128 days after his last competition with Villarreal, Bruno returned to play at the Estadio de la Cerámica. After the game, Bruno told Movistar+ “I’ve tried to return a lot of times, I won’t lie, at times I thought it would be better not to carry on.” Yet he persevered and was cheerfully welcomed back by his teammates and digitally applauded by Villarreal fans.
Neither Sergio Asenjo’s four ACL injuries, nor severe damage to Santi Cazorla’s Achilles tendon, nor Bruno Soriano’s multi-year knee injury were able to keep the Yellows down. Through the continued support of coaches, teammates, family, and friends, each of these key players successfully fought back from injury and demonstrated what it means to overcome adversity and keep moving forward.
