Football Players after an ACL Tear

Being a football player, one of the first thing I did after confirmation of the need for surgery was to look for professional football players who have undergone an ACL reconstruction. Surprisingly, this information wasn't easy to find. It took me a lot of googling to make a comprehensive list.

I knew that Michael Owen had an ACL tear. He ruptured his ACL in the 2006 world cup. Unfortunately for him, that was the start of a string of other injury problems. But it's worth noting that none of his other injuries concern the ACL.

I think one of the best examples one could look to is that of the Italian, the world cup winning former Juventus playmaker Alessandro Del Piero.

Alessandro Del Piero in action for Juventus

When asked recently, about how long he intends to play football, this is what he had to say: “How long do I want to play on for? Up to the age of 40. [My physique] changed on November 8, 1998 [Just a day before his 24th birthday, he suffered an ACL tear]. I was out for 12 months, four on crutches. It changed my career and made me a better player. Before it I was a tough guy, fast, technically good, still only on instinct. After I was able to tame it too and am more balanced."

We know that he had a good career after his return. He holds a host of records for Juventus, including that of the club's top scorer and the most appearances for Juventus. He's currently playing for Sydney FC.

Another illustrious Italian who makes this list is none other than Roberto Baggio.

Roberto Baggio

He tore tore his ACL late on in his career and made an astonishingly quick recovery in 76 days! Despite making a swift recovery, he was left out of the squad that went to the 2002 world cup, which saw Italy eliminated by South Korea in the pre-quarters.

Having seen the case of two second strikers, let's look at two of English Premier League's most prolific strikers. Indeed, the Premier League's top goal scorer himself had a ruptured ACL! Yes, Alan Shearer, in his early days at Blackburn Rovers snapped his right ACL in 1992.

Alan Shearer...his trademark calebration

Well, I don't think I have to add any more to this. The injury did no harm to the abilities of this classic English centre-forward as he went on to become the Premier League's top goal scorer with 283 goals in 559 appearances.

Now here's one striker most Arsenal fans will hate: Ruud van Nistelrooy! When it looked all set for van Nistelrooy to complete a move to Manchester United from PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2000, he ruptured his ACL in training and the move was axed. Later on in April 2001, he did make the move to Manchester United.

Ruud van Nistelrooy

He spent 5 seasons as a Red Devil, during which he amassed 150 goals in 220 appearances. With 38 goals, he is also the club's all-time European top goalscorer. Well, he did miss a penalty against Arsenal in our Invincible season! Late on in the game with the score at 0-0, he had the chance to win the game for United. His penalty struck the post, and the rest, it's all history! Arsenal finished the season unbeaten!

One of the integral members of the Invincible Arsenal squad was the graceful, delightful midfielder Robert Pires. Hardly has the Premier League seen a player with an exquisite touch and extraordinary vision such as Pires's. He was the embodiment of Arsenal's quality and free flowing football.

Robert Pires, recovering from an ACL reconstruction!

Pires arrived at Arsenal in 2000 and endured a difficult first season. However, in his very next season, Robert Pires became a very influential player. In a season which saw Arsenal win the double (the Premier League and F.A Cup), Pires was the top assist maker in the League and was voted FWA footballer of the year and Arsenal's player of the season. All this despite missing out the last two months with an ACL tear! This picture above sums up everything about Robert Pires that season! He made a comeback from his injury the following season and initially found it tough. But eventually, he returned to form and scored the lone goal in the FA Cup final against Southampton. Again in the next season, which was Arsenal's Invincible season, Pires went on to play a crucial part. He, along with Henry, scored a combined 57 goals, and some of those were sumptuous, like the winner against Liverpool at Anfield.

The current Arsenal pass master, Mikel Arteta, too had an ACL tear during his time at Everton.

Current Arsenal vice-captain, Mikel Arteta

The Arsenal vice-captain tore his ACL in Feb '09 and returned to action in Jan '10. He is currently one of Arsenal's and the Premier League's best and top passer.

Other notable players with an ACL reconstruction include Anderson, Phi Jagielka, Nemanja Vidic, Robbie Fowler, Joe Cole, Luis Garcia, Giuseppe Rossi...the list can go on! If you have a need to know who else from the Premier League is currently on the ACL treatment table, you can find it here, on the physioroom website.

We don't need evidence more than these to be convinced that an ACL tear cannot ruin one's quality. Although it takes is a lot of patience and work at the gym during the rehab period, it can only make one stronger. It has been just over a couple of months now, since I had the reconstruction surgery. I've made good progress in the gym so far. Everyday, as I go to work and return home, I pass by Madhavan Park, which is where I've played most of my football in the past two years, and I see people playing football. I know, that in a few months time, I'll be one among them, playing at a level higher than before.

The Unstable Knee

Before deciding to go for the surgery, I thought it would be best to take one more opinion at least. Going by the suggestion of my friend's father, I consulted Dr. Praveen Basanagoudar at the Sagar Hospital.

At the hospital, I was amused by the fact that his room number was 14, which is my shirt number! There was something more interesting on that floor. Another patient waiting for the doctor pointed out to his companion that the room which should have had the number 13 had number 12A instead! I guess that the occupant was a superstitious doctor and that was why he had the number 12A printed on a paper and pasted over the existing number plate, which probably had the number 13.

When it was my turn, the doctor had a look at the MRI and confirmed that the scans suggest a tear of the ACL and that I'd need a surgery to fix it. Then he performed a test on my knee, known as the anterior drawer test, which showed that my knee was definitely unstable. I must admit, it wasn't an easy thing to see my leg move forward, the way it did! He too said that I'd have to wait for two more weeks at least to get the surgery done. This was because the bony contusions had to heal, I had to get a better range of motion (ROM), i.e, I had to improve the bending of my leg and increase the strength of my hamstring. To achieve those, he directed me to the physiotherapy department, where I would be taught quad sets, straight leg raises and wall slide exercises. I had to perform many repetitions of those, twice a day.

The doctor then explained the ACL reconstruction procedure in brief. He told me that the torn ACL will be completely removed and a new ACL graft would be inserted and held in its place using screws. There were two ways of making a graft to replace the torn ACL: one was the patellar tendon graft, which was what the first doc suggested, and the second was the hamstring graft. He told me that he prefers the hamstring graft as the post-op pain is lesser in this case. With a patellar tendon graft, there would be some pain in the area from where the graft is harvested but that wasn't the case with a hamstring graft. I would have to be on rest for four weeks after the surgery, during which I'd have a lot of physiotherapy to do. I would have to wear a knee brace for that duration. The time required to get back to sports was a minimum of six months. He also told me that some people can live with an ACL tear if the muscles around the knee, like the quads, were bulky enough and could provide stability to the knee. And if I didn't intend to get back to active sports, I could most certainly avoid a surgery. However, me being still young, he suggested that I get the surgery done.

With another ortohpaedic confirming the need for a surgery, I now had to decide where to get it done. I was inclined towards Sagar hospital. Colleagues suggested that I get a third opinion in Hosmat, known for dealing with sport related injuries, and that I should go there even for the surgery. 

And so I went to Hosmat the following day. The doc there started with the examination of the MRI scans. Looking at the MRI, he said that the ligament wasn't torn and that I wouldn't need a surgery. I was surprised! Then he performed the anterior drawer test. Again, the leg had a huge lateral movement. That, he said, was a sign that the ligament was torn, although the MRI didn't seem to suggest that to him. So he advised me to take another MRI scan after two weeks to confirm the tear. However, he did add that it was likely that the ligament was torn; else my leg wouldn't have shown that amount of forward translation. He too suggested physiotherapy and said that would heal the bony contusions.

So everyone pointed towards a surgery. I had to get it done. It was now a question of where. I abandoned JOC as an option. I preferred Sagar hospital over Hosmat. Sagar hospital was close to my house too, unlike Hosmat. But I decided to postpone the actual decision for two weeks. All docs wanted to wait for a couple of weeks and the bony contusions had to heal. I decided to consult the latter two docs after that period and then decide on where to get the surgery done. 

It wasn't just the leg that had to get better in two weeks, I also had to prepare myself mentally. What I initially thought would take ten weeks to heal, it looked as though it could take potentially ten months. I had to be braced for it. I had to face it.