Cursed Andrade suffers more heartbreak PDF Print E-mail

Portugal defender faces another long period out of action

Jorge AndradeJuventus’ Portuguese international Jorge Andrade has suffered further injury heartache after tests revealed serious damage to the defender’s left knee will require yet another operation.

The 30-year-old has suffered two severe knee injuries in recent years which have seen him miss both of Portugal’s last two international tournaments. The centre-back had been in light training following over six months out when he broke down on Thursday.

Andrade had been training on his own in Pinzolo in the Italian Alps, in the hope of being fit for the start of the new Serie A season. However, in what is another case of incredible bad luck for the former Porto man, Andrade re-injured the left knee which had to be operated on twice last season.

The player visited orthopaedic specialists in Turin on Friday and it was decided, after the injury was diagnosed as a “kneecap fracture re-lapse” that surgery is needed to fuse the bone tissue, with Andrade expected to go under the knife on Monday.

Andrade’s injury nightmares began in the spring of 2006 when he went down playing for Deportivo La Coruna against Barcelona, at Camp Nou, tearing cruciate knee ligaments and missing the subsequent World Cup in Germany later that summer.

Injury jinx


Having fought his way back to fitness with Depor during the second half of the 2006/07 campaign, Andrade managed to secure a move to Juventus last summer.

However, the injury jinx would strike again just one month into his first year in Italy when he fractured his left kneecap, and further setbacks led to a second operation earlier this year and his exclusion from Portugal’s Euro 2008 squad.

Reports suggest the latest blow will keep Andrade, who has featured in just four matches for Juventus, out for at least a few months.

Having turned 30 in April, the setback will only raise doubts over the Lisbon native’s chances of returning to the level which made him one of Europe’s finest defenders.

13 July 2008, Sean Gillen

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