UAE superstar Omar Abdulrahman jetted off to Barcelona on Wednesday evening as he began the long road back to full fitness after a serious knee injury that has almost certainly ruled him out of January’s Asian Cup.
Abdulrahman, 27, was left in tears on Saturday when he jarred his right knee in a collision with Romania defender Valerica Garman during just the fifth minute of Saturday evening’s 1-0 derby win for Al Hilal at Al Shabab Riyadh in the Saudi Professional League. X-rays, delayed because of swelling, on Tuesday revealed an “anterior cruciate ligament tear” – damage that usually requires a minimum six-month lay-off.
Hilal announced that the esteemed Dr Ramon Cugat, who counts a plethora of Barcelona icons as past patients, will study the damage. The physician previously oversaw ‘Amoory’s’ recovery when a second surgery on his ACL caused him to miss the first half of the 2011/12 season
“Al Hilal and the UAE’s player Omar Abdulrahman is heading this evening [Wednesday] to Barcelona to check on his condition with the orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Ramon Cugat, who monitored ‘Amoory’s’ rehabilitation program after the previous ACL surgery,” a tweet from the Crescent’s official account read.
Dr Cugat has treated the likes of Pep Guardiola, Xavi, Samuel Eto’o, Cesc Fabregas, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, David Villa, David Silva and Fernando Torres.
The 68-year-old is currently co-director of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology Hospital Quiron Barcelona, chairman of the board of the Garcia Cugat Foundation for Biomedical Research and president of the Medical Council at the Catalan Mutual Insurance of Football under the Royal Spanish Football Federation.
Turki Al-Sheikh, the all-powerful chairman of the General Sports Authority in Saudi Arabia, announced at the weekend that Abdulrahman would be treated “urgently in the best places in the world.”
The UAE will kick-off their continental campaign against Bahrain on January 5 at Zayed Sports City.
#Alhilal and UAE’s player Omar Abdulrahman is heading this evening to Barcelona to check on his condition with the Orthopedic Surgeon “Dr. Ramon Cugat” who monitored @Amoory10 rehabilitation program after the previous ACL surgery. pic.twitter.com/aUHX3UDqtJ
— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) October 24, 2018
