Roma star Nicolò Zaniolo was initially so upset at the new ACL injury that he ‘wanted to quit football,’ reveals his mother, and feared he’d been ‘cursed.’
It was a devastating blow for the 21-year-old, who only just recovered from a torn ACL in one knee back in January and suffered the same injury to the other knee while playing for Italy on Monday.
“We’re waiting to see where Nicolò will have the surgery,” Francesca Costa told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Roma star Nicolò Zaniolo was initially so upset at the new ACL injury that he ‘wanted to quit football,’ reveals his mother, and feared he’d been ‘cursed.’
It was a devastating blow for the 21-year-old, who only just recovered from a torn ACL in one knee back in January and suffered the same injury to the other knee while playing for Italy on Monday.
“We’re waiting to see where Nicolò will have the surgery,” Francesca Costa told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“It could be in Rome, in the American clinic where Zlatan Ibrahimovic had his operation, or in Austria. Roma are evaluating the best solution for Nicolò.
“He’s feeling a little better now, but when he saw us the first time, he was in tears, he was furious, even feared he was cursed, but he’s calmed down now. His first words were: ‘I have to quit football. I think I've been cursed.'
“He is quite scared of anaesthetic too, but is trying to look at the positive side now. He had one reconstructed knee, now he’ll have another, and seeing as they told him he has quite hefty muscles, it could be good in the long run.
“I realised he’d gone back to being the old Nicolò when he told us with two new knees, he’d be like the Bionic Man. It helped to receive so many messages from all over the world, he was constantly pointing out who had written to him. The Roma fans are amazing, they love him so much.
“I talked to (Roma CEO Guido) Fienga and as a mother was so pleased to see genuine affection and caring for my son, as a man more than a director.
“Now he’s home with his girlfriend and their new puppy, who doesn’t have a name yet. He just needed a little time to process it all and is now ready to fight back.”