Soccer

Ireland captain Séamus Coleman feared his career was over after Boubakary Soumaré tackle

Veteran defender thought he had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament after tackle by Leicester City player last May

Séamus Coleman talks during an Ireland press conference at the Castleknock Hotel in Dublin on Wednesday. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

Gavin Cummiskey
Wed Mar 20 2024 - 12:20

Lying on the King Power Stadium turf last May, Séamus Coleman presumed his storied career was over. The Everton captain feared a tackle by Leicester City’s Boubakary Soumaré had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament.

Within 24 hours, scans on the knee discovered a medial ligament tear which ruled him out of Ireland’s crucial trip to Athens last June and the remainder of the Euro 2024 qualification campaign.

“It was a bit of a scare the night of the Leicester game because I kind of thought that might have been it,” Coleman revealed at a press conference on Wednesday morning ahead of Saturday’s friendly against Belgium. “It looked to be a bad injury but thankfully as I’ve said in the last couple of months I got away without it being an ACL which was important at my age and at the time.”

Coleman has come back from serious leg injuries before, particularly following a broken leg following a tackle by Wales’ Neil Taylor in 2017, but the Soumaré collision was when the 35 year old felt his career on Merseyside and as Irish skipper could be over.

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“For the first time I did think that. Obviously I am not getting any younger but I do know from lads who got ACLs in the past that it is a nine to 12 months thing. My contract was up at the end of that season so I wasn’t sure.

“To be honest, I wasn’t really bothered as you could see when I was coming off on a stretcher. Right, we could be in real trouble here, this will be my parting act to the group and I tried to rile the fans up going off on a stretcher.

“I did think maybe it would [be over]. That was dampened the next day when I had scan and somehow, touch wood got away with it not being an ACL.

“Still a serious injury but one I could come back from.”

Gavin Cummiskey

Gavin Cummiskey

Gavin Cummiskey is The Irish Times' Soccer Correspondent

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