Eight years aft being told helium should beryllium satisfied if helium could locomotion again, 40-year-old erstwhile Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla scored the extremity that enactment boyhood nine Real Oviedo into the La Liga play-off final.
The Spaniard came disconnected the seat astatine half-time with his broadside trailing 1-0 to Almeria successful the play-off semi-final 2nd leg.
Within 4 minutes, the midfielder scored a free-kick with his weaker near ft to enactment Oviedo 3-2 up connected aggregate.
The 1-1 second-leg gully was capable for Oviedo to scope the play-off final, wherever they volition look either Mirandes oregon Racing Santander.
"I'm conscionable trying to bask what is near of my career, knowing that the extremity is closer," Cazorla said aft the game.
"I effort to bask myself, which is the astir important thing. I was bittersweet that I wouldn't commencement the crippled but I knew that this crippled was important. I'm blessed I was capable to assistance the team."
Cazorla, a two-time European champion with Spain, spent six years astatine Arsenal and made 180 appearances earlier leaving successful 2018.
The last 2 years of his clip successful northbound London were plagued with injuries.
Cazorla suffered an Achilles wounded successful October 2016, with the midfielder going connected to person 11 operations to cure the problem.
One of the operations led to gangrene with doctors telling Cazorla helium should beryllium satisfied to locomotion again.
However, the Spaniard pushed to restart his shot vocation and helium had his Achilles reconstructed, with doctors grafting tegument from his near limb - featuring a tattoo - to his close ankle.
Cazorla spent 2 years astatine La Liga nine Villarreal aft leaving Arsenal successful 2018, earlier a three-year stint successful Qatar.
He re-joined boyhood nine Oviedo successful 2023, taking connected a minimum wage successful the anticipation of returning the nine to the top-flight for the archetypal clip since 2001.
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