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Christmas comes early for Klasnic
Rarely can a simple tap-in have meant so much to a player. The picture here on the right is of Ivan Klasnic, his head bowed in joy and disbelief, after scoring his first goal since undergoing two kidney transplant operations early this year.
The 27-year-old Croatian started his first home game in 12 months when Werder Bremen met Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, and he scored twice in Werder’s 5-2 victory.
His return to health, and the morale-boosting ”doppelpack” against Bayer, could yet see him return for Croatia in time to play at Euro 2008. The player himself sounds optimistic, although he obviously has different priorities now.
“My health comes first,” he told reporters after Werder’s final match of 2007. “Whatever comes now, so be it. I spoke with (national team coach) Slaven Bilic by telephone even before I returned to action. I’m sure if things continue going well we’ll be seeing each other soon.”
You can read the full story over at our main Web site here.
PHOTO: Werder Bremen’s Ivan Klasnic (L) and Jurica Vranjes celebrate Klasnic’s goal against Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga match, December 15, 2007. REUTERS/Christian Charisius
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Salute for Klasnic…Success is come for those who wait…Only big players who can come for second wind, after suffered serious illness, Ivan Klasnic is absolutely one among those players.
Is he the first player to make it back into top flight football after having an organ transplant?
Not sure whether he is the first player to recover from an organ transplant and return to topflight football but hat’s off to the player anyhow. Remember Lance Armstrong though? Coming back from cancer to claim the Tour De France title? It’s stories like this that truly warm the heart and it’s great to see, let’s hope all’s well that ends well for Klasnic and he is recalled to the Croatian squad.
It was really touching listening to the reaction of everyone to Klasnic scoring again. I imagine the strain on the body of going through transplant surgery must be immense. But it’s true, there have been quite a few sportspeople coming through cancer, including Armstrong, the old Deportivo Coruna goalkeeper Jose Molina and (I think) Alan Stubbs and Lubo Penev. As you say, hats off.
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