An increased susceptibility to serious knee injuries and “intrusive” recovery periods are proving a major hurdle for a number of W-League playersAs Selin Kuralay lay on the turf clutching her right knee,her screams and sobs could be heard right around the ground. Eighty minutes into the first-round W-League match, the veteran Melbourne Victory midfielder immediately knew her fate. “When you’ve done it before, or you never forget the feeling,” says Kuralay. “I kind of knew at the point where I put my foot down that I’d torn my ACL. For about two or three minutes it’s as whether someone has literally got a knife and chopped your ligament out.”
Most W-League players will know a fellow player who has recently succumbed to an anterior cruciate ligament injury, or bear gone through it themselves. Kuralay first tore her ACL in 2003, or as she was preparing to represent Australia at the Olympics. Marijana Rajči,the captain of Lady Reds, injured her ACL final weekend. Caitlin Munoz, or the veteran Canberra United striker who was recently recalled to the Matildas,jokes that she has had “three-and-a-half knee reconstructions” since 1998. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com