Eleven minutes of garbage have ruined a Euro Cup. José Luis Gayá will not be in Germany after he suffered an injury to the quadriceps of his left leg in the match his team, Valencia, played on Sunday against Girona in Mestalla. It was a strange day, with half fans in the bars as a sign of protest against Peter Lim, it had sparked, which is always news in Valencia, and Baraja’s team, already without incentives in the League, lost 0-2. Rubén Baraja, perhaps to save the honor of his fans, perhaps to give minutes that would be useful to the leader of his team to recover the rhythm of the competition, brought him on in the 61st minute. The public applauded him, as always, the The player adjusted the captain’s armband, watched Míchel’s team score the third goal (0-3) and in the 72nd minute had to ask for a change.
His face predicted bad news. It seemed like she had broken her thigh again, but she had to wait for the doctors’ judgment. An MRI has brought the worst diagnosis: Gayá has relapsed and does not have time to recover before the start of the Euro Cup, scheduled for June 14 (Spain will debut against Croatia the following day). The left-handed back was a fixture for Luis de la Fuente and had his chances of starting with the national team. A setback before the tournament begins.
This fatality is especially cruel because it is not new for Gayá. The last tweet from his account on X (formerly Twitter) remains an indelible trace of that day of pain. That November 20, 2022, he thanked the fans who wrote him messages of comfort. Then he disappeared from this social network. Luis Enrique, then head of La Roja, decided to rule him out for the World Cup in Qatar after learning that the Pedreguer footballer was suffering from a minor sprain. Enough for the coach, not enough for the defender, who was very affected by this decision.
Gayá, who will turn 29 on Saturday, missed the World Cup and now, a year and a half later, he also misses the Euro Cup due to an injury that began on March 17, at La Cerámica, during the League match. against Villarreal. The Valencia player suffered a tear in his quadriceps and spent almost exactly two months without playing again. After being discharged, he was a substitute against Rayo, played half an hour against Real Sociedad on the 16th, and the already fateful 11 minutes on Sunday in that unusually depopulated Mestalla. Eleven minutes that close the doors of the Euro Cup.
Late in the afternoon, the club issued a statement in which, in addition to specifying that it suffers “a relapse of the injury to the rectus femoris muscle of the quadriceps of the left leg”, it announces that Gayá is going to have surgery. “After considering different therapeutic options, the Club’s Medical Services, in agreement with the footballer, have opted for surgical intervention, which will be performed in the near future.”
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