Cristiano Ronaldo went through a major change in his style of play due to an injury he suffered in 2014. The injury, referred to as tendinosis, is something that is not easily treatable. In some cases, it is not treatable at all, tendinosis just heals on its own or never heals. Unfortunately, for Ronaldo, the case is the latter.
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In 2014, before the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, Ronaldo suffered an injury to his knee. The injury turned out to be tendinosis. The Portuguese soccer star was in immediate need of rest. However, he went on to play and win the UEFA Champions League that year and also continued his journey to Brazil to play the FIFA World Cup.
Ronaldo, however, still has not completely recovered. From a fierce dribbler during his first stint at Manchester United and early Real Madrid days, Ronaldo turned into an emphatic finisher. He started playing more and more advanced on the pitch and his defensive work rate came down. Also, his dribbling lowered immensely. It is said that the knee jerk that happens during dribbling is something Ronaldo’s knee could not take anymore.
FUN FACT before we start:
Rafa Nadal had tendinosis and cured it by resting from July 2012 – February 2013 (8 months) pic.twitter.com/xkPG4voRQ9
— LLF (@LLF_14) September 9, 2021
Another athlete that has gone through something similar is tennis star and Ronaldo’s friend Rafael Nadal. It is believed that Nadal took an extensive break from playing after he suffered tendinosis. This helped him to recover from the injury much better than Ronaldo.
What is tendinosis? How is it different from tendinitis?
Bleacher Report’s Dr. Dave Siebert sat down to explain what tendinosis is and how it is different from its “cousin” tendinitis.
“Tendinosis differs from its cousin tendinitis in a few important ways. Tendinosis can indeed produce pain, stiffness and swelling in a tendon. However, it usually develops gradually as a result of long-term overuse—probably many, many microtears over a long period of time, though the area remains a subject of research—rather than a more acute injury.
“It isn’t inflammation—like tendinitis—it’s degeneration. Initial treatment typically involves rest, physical therapy, and other conservative measures all aimed at allowing the body’s healing mechanism to catch up with the damage. As such, the greater the extent of cellular changes in the tendon, the longer and more difficult the healing process.”
D | Tendinosis (what Ronaldo has) is an evolved form of tendinitis, which is a chronic degeneration, scarring, hardening, and thickening of the tendons.
This causes many problems such as pain, swelling, tenderness and most importantly, a loss of flexibility in the knee. pic.twitter.com/ICn2dSVRZc
— LLF (@LLF_14) September 9, 2021
As clearly explained by the doctor, resting the body is the only way to get ahead of the injury. The body needs to be given enough time to catch up with the damage. What Ronaldo did was completely opposite. He played more instead of less after suffering from the brutal injury. He regrets doing so.
Cristiano Ronaldo regrets playing the 2014 FIFA World Cup
In his documentary, Ronaldo extensively talked about the injury that plagued his career. However, he regretted a lot of the decisions he took during that time.
He talked about how he plays more than 60 games every season and how that catches up to you. However, he thinks it is the pain of continuing that makes him the great soccer player he is.
He said, “Either you stop for two or three months, or you learn to live with the pain.”
“I can endure the pain because I think there’s something stronger. Maybe if I didn’t feel the pain, maybe I wouldn’t be as good as I am.”
He went on to talk about how the World Cup made his injury worse.
“I have no doubt that the World Cup made my injury worse.”
“I don’t feel any improvement in my injury. I could have recovered by now. If I could go back, I wouldn’t have gone to the World Cup.”
“I have no doubt that the World Cup made my injury WORSE.” 💔
“I don’t feel any improvement in my injury” 💔
“I could have recovered by now.” 💔
“If I could go back, I WOULDN’T have gone to the World Cup.” 💔💔💔 pic.twitter.com/21u6u15UNb
— LLF (@LLF_14) September 9, 2021
Ronaldo, however, can be satisfied with what a fantastic goalscorer he turned into. He owns most of the goalscoring records in the world. He has the most international goals, the most club goals, the most goals scored in Real Madrid history, and he is also the highest goalscorer in UEFA Champions League history. His best goalscoring years followed after his injury.