‘I felt like a damaged car after Arsenal leg break – it overshadowed my career’
Former Arsenal forward Eduardo admitted his horror leg break against Birmingham City left him feeling like “a damaged car” for the rest of his career.
The Croatian international was one of the most exciting young players in the Premier League when he was playing under Arsene Wenger. However, a catastrophic broken left fibular and open dislocation of his ankle, caused by an x-rated challenge from Blues’ player Martin Taylor in 2008, sidelined him for over a year.
He struggled to hold down a place at Arsenal upon his return and he was eventually sold to Shakhtar Donetsk. But while he did eventually recover from the hideous injury, Eduardo believes it was still blighting his career.
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"It’s difficult to describe my career after that injury,” Eduardo said to Betway Insider. “It was like I was a damaged car, where I was taken to the mechanic, fixed, and the car was driving well but people had doubts.
“Thankfully I played for a decade after the injury for different clubs in Europe and Brazil. For the Croatian national team I had a better scoring record considering I was playing less minutes, but anything after the injury became an excuse. If I missed a pass, everyone pointed back to the injury.
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“I thought I was playing better than before my injury but some people always look at the negatives and I thought some of the goals after my injury didn’t have as much impact as before."
After the injury, Wenger said Martin Taylor “should never play football again” and that the three match ban he received “a joke”.
Fortunately, Eduardo did go on to have a successful career, retiring in 2019 with a cracking international record of 29 goals in 62 games for Croatia and with five Ukrainian titles and five Ukrainian domestic cups in his trophy cabinet. And the now 40-year-old admits he does not feel any venom or anguish towards Taylor.
"The tackle from Martin Taylor is a delicate subject, and in the past I haven’t really liked talking about it,” Eduardo said to Betway Insider. “But it has been 15 years now, so now I’m more comfortable talking about it. It was a serious injury, and after it happened I was taken to the hospital for surgery. I received messages that he came to visit me but I don’t remember as I was in the process of post-surgery, I was in and out. I vaguely remember what happened at that time.
“I remember a year later when I returned to the pitch, the club told me that he sent an email to the club wishing me the best of luck and that he was happy to see me play again. Towards Taylor, I have no regrets or anything bad to say about him. These things can happen to any athlete, to any football player and sometimes you get these injuries.”
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