Our staunch stopper Igor Ćuković operated on the anterior cruciate ligament of his knee for the second time in his career on April 13 in Zagreb, and exactly five months after the operation – on September 13 – he did his first training with the blue champions.
In the meantime, when the time came for that, the 28-year-old defender strengthened his injured leg, did exercises, trained twice a day …
“First of all, I would like to thank physiotherapists Raša Orović and Lazar Čadjenović, who, along with our fitness trainers and medical team, they worked on my recovery and the fact that I joined the team in five months shows that they did a great job “, said Ćuković, who is very satisfied that he is on the field again. I missed all that a lot, I am happy because again I work with the guys and I will do my best to get ready as soon as possible and join the team in the fight for points.”
Every recovery is difficult, especially when it comes to one of the most serious injuries in the world of sports.
“From the moment I got injured the whole rehabilitation period as today I feel the support of all the people employed in the club and it was certainly a wind in my back and an additional motive to return as soon as possible.It was not easy, but since I walked and started exercising in the gym, n the progress was visible from day to day and that is what meant a lot to me psychologically”.
In addition to excellent work with the doctoral and fitness team of our club, as well as physiotherapists, Ćuković returned quickly due to his steely will and dedication in the rehabilitation process.
“For the entire period, I did more training than I would have done if I had not been injured, but the most important thing is that the muscles are now ready for greater efforts. I feel great on the field and I do the training without any problems”, says Ćuković, and adds:
“In the next ten days it will be with avoiding some bigger duels, and after that I will be ready for maximum work. It’s hard to say what level I’m at right now, I haven’t played a game in five months and only after some friendly match will I know how ready I am. The most important thing is that I don’t feel any problems after the injury, and readiness will surely come quickly with working with the team”.
Patience is one of the key things when a player comes out of a serious injury.
“It was important not to hurry – neither the doctors, nor the physiotherapists, nor the professional staff, nor me – and I think we did everything at the right time. There will be national team breaks in the next two months, and I will certainly be able to do that, so that I can work on my physical fitness. I don’t want to burden myself with a return date, but I repeat again: everything is going as it should and I will give my best to return to the matches as soon as possible. Of course, all in consultation with doctors and fitness trainers.”
Another key thing is the mental strength of a native of Nikšić – Ćuković tore the anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee when he was younger, and a little less than half a year ago, his right knee was “damaged”. And he was ready for anything to come back the right way.
“I think that in all difficult periods, mental strength plays a major role in overcoming them. Once I went through all this, I knew what was waiting for me and from the first day I was ready for sacrifices and hard work. Now it’s all behind me, I don’t want to go back to that anymore, I look ahead and I want to enjoy football”, Igor Ćuković is clear.
