Sports Medicine Master System

Most metatarsal fractures are stress fractures, caused by the immense pressure of competition. The fragile fifth metatarsal simply snaps from exhaustion.

Ashley Cole underwent surgery in the United Kingdom and, after three months of recovery, finally returned at the end of February.

To regain his form, he participated in a reserve team match.

He played an exhilarating match and was thrilled to be back on the pitch. Afterward, however, he noticed some soreness in his left leg.

He didn't think much of it.

He then went to training as usual. While making a sharp turn, he collapsed to the ground once more.

A torn quadriceps muscle.

Just like that, Eriksson's starting left-back was injured yet again.

Fortunately, it was just a muscle tear. He would definitely be able to make it in time for the World Cup.

Ashley Cole wasn't the only one with a leg injury. A phone call forced Chen Yu to clear his schedule and rush to Europe.

The call was from the Czech Republic's head coach, Karel Bruckner.

The Czech Republic's star striker, Vladimir Smicer, had torn a ligament in his left knee and his thigh muscle in early February.

Last year, he had transferred from Liverpool back to Bordeaux. For this injury, Bordeaux's head coach, Eric Boop, had chosen not to fly all the way to the United States for Chen Yu's treatment. The team doctor had probably told him Smicer's injury wasn't serious—that it didn't even require surgery and only needed rest.

But when he began rehabilitative training at the end of the month, he collapsed again.

An examination revealed the injury hadn't improved. A blood clot had even formed in his thigh muscle.

Bruckner couldn't take it anymore. He personally stepped in and had Smicer pressure the club to seek treatment from Chen Yu.

Bordeaux agreed, and so Chen Yu came to Europe.

However, before heading to France, Chen Yu first made a detour to Spain.

On the 15th of last month, Bar?a's Brazilian midfielder, Thiago Motta, had sprained his right knee.

It wasn't serious, with an expected recovery time of four to six weeks.

But upon hearing that Chen Yu was coming to Europe, Rijkaard insisted that Chen Yu make a trip to Bar?a to re-examine Motta.

With both Xavi and Motta injured, Bar?a was running out of available midfielders.

He needed Chen Yu's diagnosis to confirm Motta's recovery was complete.

But the detour to Spain wasn't entirely because of Rijkaard's invitation.

Chen Yu also needed to check on Raul's injury.

On November 19th of last year, Real Madrid's world came crashing down. First, they suffered a crushing 0-3 defeat to Bar?a in the league, and then their "prince," Raul, tore the ACL in his left knee during the match.

Chen Yu had been the one to assist with the surgery.

After recuperating in the United States for over a month, Raul chose to return to Spain to continue his rehabilitation.

By the end of February, he felt he was ready to play, but Florentino clearly trusted Chen Yu more. He told Raul directly, "You can return to the pitch when Chen Yu says you can, and not a moment sooner."

Chen Yu needed to go check on the progress of Raul's recovery.

The tear to his anterior cruciate ligament wasn't severe—only about halfway through. Chen Yu had used a Diamond Level treatment to suture it, so his recovery should have been excellent.

If Eriksson said England was suffering from a metatarsal curse, then this year, Spain was under an ACL curse.

Xavi and Raul had both fallen victim to ACL injuries.

But they weren't the only ones. Joining them in their misery was Juan Belenguer. The core of Super Laco had torn his left ACL during a league match last month, on January 23rd, and was now recovering in the United States alongside Xavi.

That's why Aragonese, for one, was completely at ease. When he heard Chen Yu had arrived in Spain, he insisted on inviting him to lunch, saying he had to thank him properly.

It was Chen Yu who had saved the Spanish National Team's midfield.

The first stop on his Spanish tour was Camp Nou.

A routine Bar?a training session.

Motta was already able to do some light rehabilitative exercises.

This wasn't Chen Yu's first time at Camp Nou. He had been here countless times before.

He didn't even need an escort; his face was the best business card and ID badge rolled into one. He could even greet the security guard at the gate and exchange a few words.

On the pitch, Chen Yu saw Rijkaard.

Before he could give Chen Yu an enthusiastic hug, another figure cut in.

It was Ronaldinho.

"Chen, how long are you staying in Spain? Ronnie already called me. He said we absolutely have to show you a good time tonight." He gave Chen Yu a knowing look.

Chen Yu was speechless. He really wanted to remind Ronaldinho not to party so hard.

Just look at Ronnie. He liked to party when he was younger, too, but for the past two years, he's been incredibly disciplined for the sake of the World Cup.

'You should really learn from him.'

The training on the pitch came to a brief halt with Chen Yu's arrival.

Bar?a had quite a few Brazilians.

And they were all acquaintances of Chen Yu.

For instance, Juliano Belletti.

And Edmilson.

They were old friends from the 2002 World Cup, back when Chen Yu, at Ronaldo's request, had spent a lot of time with the team.

Of course, he was familiar with the other players too.

Puyol, Deco, Iniesta, Larsson, Jouli, Eto'o.

In the world of international football, there was hardly anyone famous whom Chen Yu didn't know.

Exchanging greetings as he went, Chen Yu finally made his way over to Motta.

He had been doing rehabilitative exercises under the guidance of a Trainer.

Upon seeing Chen Yu, he excitedly declared that he was recovering very well.

'We'll see about that,' Chen Yu thought. 'I'll be the judge of how well you've recovered.'

He swept his gaze over him with the Eye of All-Seeing.

Indeed, Motta wasn't lying; his recovery was coming along quite well.

Just as he was about to speak, a soccer ball rolled over.

Chen Yu instinctively trapped the ball with his foot. Following its path back with his eyes, he saw a few young players practicing passing drills nearby. One of them had made a mistake and sent the ball his way.

"Pulga, focus!"

Rijkaard, standing beside him, barked with a stern expression.

He could see clearly that the kid had messed up because he was distracted, turning his head to look at Chen Yu.

The kid, who had medium-length hair, nodded nervously and jogged over.

"Frank, what did you call him? The Flea?" Chen Yu asked, startled.

He'd been to Spain so many times that he'd picked up a little Spanish. If he remembered correctly, Rijkaard had just called the kid "flea."

'A nickname?'

Chen Yu glanced at the kid in the distance. He was pretty stocky.

Just not very tall.

He probably wasn't even 1.7 meters tall.