He managed to recover from the worst injury ever seen: Who is Santi Cazorla?

He was born in a small town called Llanera, one of the northernmost points of Spain. He started playing in youth teams at the age of eight, and in a short time, he was transferred first to Oviedo, the team of his city, and then to Villarreal, at the other end of the country, in the south. He did not get much playing time in his first season, but in his second season, he became an indispensable name throughout the season. Riquelmeli, Sorinli, Forlanlı were in the team. In 2005-06, Villarreal reached the Champions League semi-finals but were eliminated by Arsenal. (The penalty that Juan Roman Riquelme missed in the last moments of this match is still etched in the memories of all football fans.) However, Cazorla did not get much playing time in the Champions League and was generally a rotation player in league matches.

Santiago "Santi" Cazorla González (born 13 December 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Segunda División club Real Oviedo. A former Spanish international, Cazorla operates primarily as an attacking midfielder, but also plays as a winger, central midfielder or as a deep-lying playmaker.

After being loaned to Huelva for a year, he would constantly improve his performance and take firm steps forward with the Yellow Submarine. He managed to become the footballer of the year in Spain with his remarkable performance in 2007. A year later, after a great season, Cazorla managed to enter the Spanish National Team's EURO 2008 squad, contributing to his team by coming from the bench in all matches except the semi-finals in this championship, and for the first time, he gave the message of 'I am here too' to world football. He took part in Spain's 'Golden Generation'. He joined Villarreal at the age of 19 and left at the age of 27 with the good memories he had accumulated.

Malaga, which was purchased by Abdullah es-Sani in 2010 and made significant investments, would add Santi Cazorla to its squad a year later, but only one season later, he would sign for Arsenal for 19 million Euros.

Island days and unfortunate injury

Most football fans who remember Santi Cazorla's Arsenal days, who was a stable player for most of his football life, will say that he was actually a football player who struggled with injury problems, could not achieve stability, and had no continuity, but that is not the case. Bad things always linger in people's minds, and that's exactly the case with Cazorla. The Spanish football player, who performed wonderfully in his first seasons with Arsenal, quickly became the darling of the fans. He became one of Wenger's indispensables with his critical goals, technique, stylish assists, and dynamism. 6 years, 2 FA Cups, 180 matches, 29 goals and 45 assists…

Wenger: Worst injury I've ever seen

On the night of 19 October 2016, as Santi Cazorla stepped onto the Emirates turf, he did not know that it would probably be the last time he would wear the red jersey. The Spanish player, who came to the side in pain in the 57th minute of the match, had served Mesut Özil a minute earlier and had a share in the team's 6-0 victory. He experienced the worst days of his life after suffering from an Achilles tendon injury.

“The worst injury I have ever seen in my football life. I must say, I know how much Santi Cazorla loves playing football. "I'm really sorry for what happened to him because it's just incredible," Arsene Wenger said. The football player, who had a possibility of gangrene in his right foot after the severe pain he went through, went through very difficult times. The entire world media and football fans thought that it was time for Cazorla to retire, considering his advanced age. Maybe one person didn't think so and that was Cazorla himself.

Skin taken from his arm was transferred to his foot

The Spanish football player, who had the names of his children Enzo and India tattooed on both arms, was happy by kissing these tattoos after the goals he scored. After his unfortunate injury, a piece of skin taken from his arm was grafted onto his Achilles tendon. The tattoo of his daughter India's name, which was on his left arm, would now be on his right foot. Cazorla would say that this was one of the events that upset him the most during this process.

Magic signing ceremony

In the summer of 2018, a group of fans filling Villarreal's El Madrigal Stadium showed their loyalty to the Spanish football player and welcomed him back at Santi Cazorla's magical signing ceremony. The football player, nicknamed 'Little Magician', was applauded for minutes and honored by the fans in a signing ceremony full of magic, befitting his nickname. A group of people said that these events were just a part of Cazorla's rehabilitation phase and that he could no longer be the same. Undoubtedly, he would not leave the fans' trust, and this gesture unrequited.

He returned to the green fields and was promoted to the national team

Easy to say... Considering today's professional football world, you cannot expect a football player who is away from the green fields for 636 days to adapt to football and regain his old form in a short time. The natural part is that this is what happens. In fact, to think that a 33-year-old football player will be away from the field for about two years, undergo eleven surgeries, and return to the field, or even talk about being promoted to the Spanish National Team, is considered absurd. So much so that this Spanish miracle man achieved this by defying the doctors.

This man, whose ability to walk is considered a miracle, surprised everyone in the first season of the second Villarreal period, playing in 46 matches, scoring 7 goals, and making 11 assists.

Cazorla, who last wore the national team jersey in November 2015, put on the Spain jersey again in June 2019 and declared that he had concluded this amazing resurrection story with victory.