Neyder Lozano, a Colombian soccer player, has spent 955 days since he played his last official minutes on a soccer field. In July 2019, he signed with Granada CF and in the pre-season with the team he suffered a tibia fracture in his right leg.
Three years later and four operations due to an infection in the affected area, the Colombian centre-back still hasn’t made his debut, although he has already returned to training with his colleagues and stated in an interview with Marca that it has been a difficult few years.
During the last three years he has had various misfortunes with his legs. Even after various complications it was thought that she had a tumor on her leg.
“They tested me to see if there was a tumor, but he did not respond. Before I had surgery again, the pandemic arrived, then we went to Barcelona and decided to remove the plate, we put an intramedullary nail inside the tibiaa, without a graft. It didn’t go well either, and at the end of last season they operated on me again and it turned out that my tibia didn’t respond well, it didn’t have a good blood supply. The last surgery, of almost 12 hours, was 7 or 8 months ago and they grafted my quadriceps, with vascular veins so that there would be a good blood supply, strengthening himself with a nail”, he said about the procedures on his body.
The Colombian affirmed that he was never afraid of not being able to walk or leave professional football, but assured that he has time to prepare, study or work. “ I’m not afraid to leave professional football either. I am young, I have time to prepare, study or work. I’ve always been a ‘hustler”, he said.
“My day to day these last three years has been going from the gym to the pool and from the pool to the gym. But now the problem is not only my tibia, but the rest of the muscles and joints. I haven’t stopped working, but I have stopped competing”.
Neyder has shared and traveled with the team on several occasions for away games, although it is a pity for him not to have been able to play due to his constant injuries.
“I was with the team traveling around Europe and I suffered, since you have that impotence of not being able to be on the pitch and fight with your classmates. I really enjoyed it, although it would have been better with an audience”.
“I am very grateful to the fans for their support in these difficult times. The day I step foot on the pitch again, I’ll be like a little kid with a new toy. I know that the physios and teammates will be very happy since I have fought a lot for that moment. I dream of playing again and feeling like a footballer again”.
Also read:
UEFA Champions League: Who will meet in the quarterfinals and when are the matches?
Spotify Camp Nou: How much money will FC Barcelona receive for the new sponsorship?
The emotional moment when an RC Lens player was called up to the French national team (Video)