Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Scarface: The Soccer Version


Charlie Davies is healing well ahead of schedule after his car accident last October, and might be ready for the upcoming World Cup in June, according to an ESPN article.

This is an enormous deal to the present and future of US soccer, and I have some reasons that you should care.


It is a miraculous recovery:
Even by today's medical standards, what has happened with Davies is a miracle. 
According to the article: 

The multiple broken bones in his leg, face and elbow have healed. So has a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, and he has recovered from bladder surgery, which left a foot-long scar on his stomach. He has regained the 15 pounds he lost after enduring six surgeries following the crash, and is days away from undergoing his final surgery associated with the accident, a procedure to remove a bone, plate and screws from his left elbow. After a week to recover from that surgery, Davies expects to be back training with Sochaux by the end of February.



After the crash that left one of the passengers dead, it seemed like Davies career might be over, and playing the World Cup was out of the question. 
Now, this news breathes new life into a US team heading into it's most anticipated World Cup ever.

Davies significantly increases the US team's chances in the World Cup:

Team USA was at its best in the Confederations Cup last June, when it beat Egypt, and the #1 team in the world - Spain, before losing to Brazil 3-2 in a closely fought game.  At this time, Davies cemented himself as a starting striker and scored 2 goals. 

Davies, with his speed and activity, is the perfect balance to fellow striker Josie Altidore's strength and play-making ability.  

Since Davies went down, the US has struggled and clearly missed his presence.  Now, along with the news that midfielder Clint Dempsey's knee injury won't require surgery, the team is primed to be at full strength and ready for a memorable World Cup.

Davies now joins an elite group of disfigured soccer players:

One of the injuries that Davies sustained was broken bones in his face, and the resulting surgery should yield some pretty impressive scars, including one accross the top of his head, when the doctors reenacted a scene from Face/Off. 

"Doctors peeled his face off down to his chin in order to repair the multiple fractures that left his facial bones a shattered mess."

This in no way validates anything that happened in Face/Off.
Here are the other members of the "Elite Soccer Players who have sustained horrible head injuries"

Franck Ribery:
France's top midfielder was in a car accident when he was 2 years old resulting in some pretty incredible scars.






Carlos Tevez:
The Argentinian Striker and Man City star was burned by boiling water as child and has some scarring around his neck. 
Now he mainly burns Jaime Carragher.  Good for him.




Joleon Lescott:
Another Man City player, Lescott was hit and dragged down the road by a car when he was 5 years old.  Now he is the black Harry Potter. 







 Ronaldinho:
The Brazilian phenom has never had any kind of head injury.  He is just freakishly ugly.

2 comments:

  1. Don't forget about the great Nate K himself who was run over by his own teammate during a pick-up football game.

    ReplyDelete
  2. U.S. soccer discussion, a montage of facial scars, and mention of the name Ribery… This is truly your finest post ever! On a side note I would have liked to see an honorable mention for Seal in your list. I know he’s not a footballer, but still dude’s got a top flight scar.

    ReplyDelete

 
[Valid Atom 1.0]