Cristiano Ronaldo's knee injury could be bad says Former Liverpool physio

Cristiano Ronaldo cried twice in the space of 120 minutes on Sunday night, but for very different reasons.


The Portugal captain had to withdraw from the Euro 2016 final after just 25 minutes because of a knee injury caused by Dimitri Payet. He soldiered on for as long as he could but eventually succumbed to what must have been some serious pain.

He emerged from the tunnel for the second half with a bandage and tried to inspire his team across the finish line from the dugout. His off-field influence may have been the defining factor in extra time as striker Eder scored what would be the only goal of the game.

Chris Morgan, who spent 10 years at Liverpool before leaving last month, used his Twitter account to give his opinion on the injury. He believes it could quite easily be ligament or meniscus damage, both of which come with lengthy recovery periods.

He wrote:

 "Ronaldo's injury looked nasty..knee goes into valgus at impact..could easily be ligament or meniscus..a real shame if he has to come off."

Morgan also said:

"Rotation + valgus + external impact = high force through medial structures and compression laterally #Ronaldo." 

The tackle from Payet appeared firm, but physios may be more worried about the damage Ronaldo did in the ten minutes of desperately limping around the pitch. He twice walked off the field only to jog back on and could well have caused a bigger problem for himself and for his club.

At 31, a serious injury like a torn ligament could see his career at the top come to a premature end. If that is to be the case, he can at least say he went out at the very top.

Indeed, this is the first major title he has won with his country and helps seal his legacy as one of the greatest of all time. There has also been a suggestion that he could win his fourth Ballon d'Or for 2016, something few would have thought possible at the beginning of the year.







Culled from: givemesport.com