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Football

14.11.2006 18:26

Doctors happy with Messi op

Lionel Messi has been successfully operated on for his broken metatarsal in the left foot. Dr Antoni Dalmau, who carried out the operation said he was "very satisfied", and predicted Messi's recovery would last three months.


Stress related injury

According to club doctor, Ricard Pruna, the young Argentinean striker suffered  "a blow right on the bone, early on in the game against Zaragoza". The Doctor also revealed that Messi had been under treatment for the last month and a half for stress induced injuries, specifically on the fifth metatarsal which was broken on Sunday. Dr Pruna explained that the work on the left foot had been a success, but the knock Messi received on the right foot, "fractured the bone and we had to operate". Dr Pruna also stressed that no other squad member had suffered this kind of problem.

Antoni Dalmau explained: "the operation went very well. We cleaned up the area around the blow and stabilised the bone with a screw. There were no problems" Although the doctor put the recovery time for Messi at three months, he admitted: "that's the minimum to be sure he's recovered. After that it depends on the player's progress as to how quickly he's back playing, but I'd insist that to be on the safe side we are talking of at least three months".

Recovery process

Dr Pruna explained the process of recovery that Messi will have to go through: "for the first few weeks he'll have to keep his foot off the floor, but he will still have to keep working on his calf and thigh muscles to keep them strong and ready for the next phase when he can begin to run again"  

Doctors happy with Messi op
Rest of the sick bay

Ricard Pruna also explained how the rest of Barca's expanding sick bay was looking:

Edmílson: "He sprained his ankle and has a grade 2 strain on his lateral ligament. We think 10 days will be enough, but the Mallorca game is a bit too soon - he could be ready for the Sofia match".

Saviola: "He's got a muscle injury and you have to bear in mind not just the size of the tear, but also where it is. It's a high risk part of the muscle for a player like him with an explosive acceleration".

Iniesta: "He felt a bit sore after the Zaragoza game. There's nothing to worry about, but we decided to get in touch with the Spanish Federation doctors to get him a few days rest".

Xavi: "He's coming along fine. His injury is sorted now and we're just working with him to get him fit after the time he's missed, so his muscles don't react badly. I think he could be ready for Mallorca or Sofia, we'll see how it goes".


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