I hate international breaks.
I support a national team that is of very little consequence on the international stage, and when Big Ange has Tottenham Hotspur absolutely cooking, and it feels like we’ve JUST started the season, AND we already have a hugely congested calendar of fixtures, an international break at this point just feels like unnecessary risk to players across the world already suffering from overwork.
So what’s even worse than an international break? A Spurs player returning with injury:
Cuti Romero es duda para viajar a Bolivia. HE MAN se retiró con un contractura en el recto posterior de su pierna derecha. Mañana será evaluado y se definirá si viaja o vuelve a Inglaterra ☑️
— Luis Fregossi (@LuisFregossi) September 8, 2023
First, an obligatory disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, nor do I speak (well, read) Spanish; but the gist of the message is this: Cristian Romero, one of our defensive stalwarts in recent times, has picked up a leg injury while on international duty for Argentina, and is in doubt for their next fixture against Bolivia.
A couple of things to break down here: firstly, I have little to go on in terms of the sourcing. Luis Fregossi appears to be an Argentine journalist, and all sorts of tidbits regularly leak out through the grapevine in the Argentine media; but Fregossi doesn’t appear to be linked to many major outlets (though his Twitter feed is chock-full of South American football news).
Secondly, the actual extent of the injury (or what the injury even is) is pretty unclear. The wording (translated to English) references a “contracture in the rectus posterior of the right leg”. The problem here is that no such muscle, from what I can find, seems to exist. There is a rectus capitis posterior muscle, but that’s at the base of the skull; so it’s possible the muscle being referenced is the rectus femoris, which is part of the quadricep (thigh).
Contracture is also a bit of a dubious term, and it’s possible it’s just tightness or a mild pull. Cuti has had issues with his thigh previously, with a number of quad and/or hamstring injuries over the last couple of seasons, so this injury is a cause for concern. In this case though, it does seem like the severity is on the lower side, with Argentina still considering keeping Cuti with the squad pending an upcoming check-up; but regardless of the outcome here, it does seem like Spurs will be welcoming back a key player in a position at which they lack depth who will be (at the very least) somewhat worse for wear.
I hate international breaks.
UPDATE: Well, just as I post this, another Argentine outlet is now saying it’s a calf injury, so who the hell knows? May as well be a punctured spleen at this point.
