5 players whose careers were destroyed due to injuries
For the talent he was, Michael Owen, was injured too frequentlyFootball for all its beauty can be an ugly sport sometimes especially when a player is injured. We recently witnessed Kurt Zouma suffer a horrifying knee injury that keeps him on the sidelines for at least the next six months. One can only hope that the young Frenchman is able to recover, and resume a career that seems destined for greatness.While there is hope, with numerous success stories including Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, and Aaron Ramsey, just to name a few, these five players weren’t so lucky:
#5 Marco van Basten
Marco van Basten. One of the most celebrated forwards in the history of the game. Signed by Ajax at the start of the 1981-82 season, he played second fiddle to European top scorer, Wim Kieft, until Kieft left for Pisa in the Serie A in 1983.
What followed was one of the greatest goal scoring spells in the history of the Dutch giants, as van Basten scored an incredible 118 goals in 112 games between 1983-84 and 1986-87 and adding a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup as well as three Eredivisie championships to his trophy cabinet during his time in Amsterdam.
At the start of the 1987-88 season, he departed for Italy as he was signed by AC Milan – along with compatriots Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard – to form one of the most iconic teams in world football. His maiden Serie A campaign was hampered by an ankle injury that saw him play only 11 games, as Milan picked up a Scudetto.
His return to the squad the next year was nothing short of spectacular though, as notched 19 league goals as well as 2 crucial n the European Cup final as Milan beat Steaua Bucharest, and followed that up the next year by becoming the Serie A top scorer, as well as successfully helping Milan defend their European crown against Benfica.
This was followed by a forgettable year under Arrigo Sacchi, but the Italian legend was replaced in the off season by Fabio Capello who revitalised van Basten, and Milan went the whole season undefeated to pick up yet another Scudetto.
The Utrecht native was on fire yet again at the start the following year as Milan stretched their unbeaten run to 58 games through 2 seasons, and van Basten was awarded his third Ballon d’Or with the Milanese giants.
But, his ankle injury was a recurring issue, and he missed most of the second half of the season, returning only towards the tail end as Milan were beaten by Marseille in the European Cup final – This was to be his last game for the club.
A series of surgeries to repair his ankle proved to be unsuccessful, as van Basten finally threw in the towel after two whole years on the sidelines, and football was robbed of one of its greatest forwards when he was in his prime – 28 years old.