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Dortmund's "Borussia" player Christoph Metzelder is preparing to return to the field after more than a year and a half spent recovering from a serious Achilles tendon injury. The 24-year-old defender is expected to play for the reserve team in the matches of the German third league on Tuesday.
Two years ago, with "Borussia," C. Metzelder won the Bundesliga champions title, reached the final of the UEFA Cup tournament, and was one of the main players of the German national team on the way to the 2002 World Cup final, where they were defeated only by the Brazilian team.
However, after a very successful season, the young player began to feel pain in his right heel. Although Metzelder initially tried to ignore it, examinations in March 2003 revealed that a small tumor had been rubbing against his Achilles tendon for some time. So the footballer underwent two difficult operations, preventing him from playing for 626 days.
It can only be speculated whether this is a coincidence, but the twists of C. Metzelder's career coincided with the decline of the German national team and "Borussia" club - the national team performed very unsuccessfully in Euro 2004, while "Borussia" shaken by financial problems began to experience greater failures on the field.
Together with Metzelder, 29-year-old Dortmund team striker Otto Addo is also returning to the squad, who has undergone three cruciate ligament operations and has played only 18 matches in the last three seasons.
