Reyna Hits Out at English, German Physios

• Big Apple Soccer, Friday, January 26, 2007 3:09 PM

In an interview with New York-area prodigal son Claudio Reyna, BigAppleSoccer asks the former U.S. captain about one of his old bugaboos: injuries. The label "injury prone" doesn't have the nicest of connotations, but there's no doubt Reyna's success in England was cut-short by a torn ACL at Sunderland, and a broken ankle and other niggling injuries at Manchester City.

For the first time publicly, Reyna hits out the poor medical attention he received in England and elsewhere. "I've had [injuries], there's no denying it, but what people never knew -- I don't like to really talk about it -- but some of them have been big, big mistakes by physios in England," Reyna said. "Playing six games with a broken ankle when no one knew it didn't help, playing with a torn muscle that a doctor in Germany said was the biggest he's seen in 20 years. These are the things that never came out and I never told anyone because at the end, you're injured or you're fit."

Because of his history, Red Bulls fans may be worried about Reyna playing on artificial turf, but he insists the turf at Giants Stadium won't be a problem. "I think there's no excuses for bad passes on turf, I have to get used to it," Reyna said. "With how good they are nowadays, it's not going to be a problem. I'm looking forward to it and we all know that next year we'll be playing on grass which will be better."

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