FCBARCELONA.CAT

12.02.2008 16:05

Jorquera: from the pitch to the treatment room

Berta Brau

He has swapped the Camp Nou for the treatment room. For Albert Jorquera, 2008 has got of to an awful start, being a year in which he has learned about the least gratifying and most unseen aspect of a footballer’s life: recovering from injuries.

Albert Jorquera is still in the early stages of recovery from his knee injury. The Barcelona goalkeeper has been working hard to do things right and get back into action as soon as possible. On December 29 he picked up an unfortunate injury while playing in the game between Catalunya and Euskadi, and the medical verdict confirmed the fears that he had ruptured cruciate ligaments and the external meniscus of his right knee. He will be out for six months.

Regaining strength

A month and 9 days have passed since he underwent surgery and he is now in the most intense part of his recovery programme. Albert Jorquera told Barça TV and www.fcbarcelona.cat how he is feeling and what he is up to these days. “The knee is feeling fine but I still feel weak. After the operation I lost all the muscles and I still recuperating them and regaining volume. Right now my leg feels a bit weak, not just the knee, but also everything related to the operation.”

First phase of recovery

The player from Bescanó started working a few days after the op, and is focusing primarily on mobility and building up his muscles at the moment. "The knee is developing well, but we are still at the very early stages. It has been a month and a week and the truth is I'm feeling fine. The thing is this has only just start of it and there is a long way still to go.”

Personal targets

Albert Jorquera said it felt like “a crisis” when this process was only at the beginning but this is a typical situation for a sportsperson and being out for such a long time can be difficult to cope with. “I think I have got over the crisis very well” he said. “In that respect I think I am a fairly positive and optimistic person”.

Day to day life for Albert Jorquera

During these first few weeks, Albert Jorquera has being spending all morning and afternoon in rehab. "I am there for more or less two and half hours in the morning and two and a half more in the afternoon. I do the typical exercises for the phase I am at. I have changed training for these exercises, and it’s all much more boring and methodological. But that’s what I’ve got to do now”, he said with a sigh.

But he has not lost his smile and now it’s a matter of recovering as quickly as possible. “I suppose I will be back to training on the pitch in about two months, but as for playing, I hope that you’ll be able to see me back from very early on next season.”

Following the team

Although his recovery is what matters most, Albert Jorquera has not lost touch with a team he feels is “better than ever. I think we had a bit of a bad patch before Christmas, but in January the team has managed to do some really goods things and the sensations are good. We are in the semi finals of the Copa del Rey, the League isn’t decided yet, there are plenty of games left, and now the Champions league starts, and the team is really looking forward to the final stages.”