Matías Suárez and “that cursed knee”: how his future at River continues

Matías Suárez’s future is unknown. And he’s loaded with uncertainty like his right knee with synovial fluid. That synovitis, the one that has been abusing him for some time, has caused him intermittent pains, which are already chronic. In River they are waiting for his recovery because they consider him a fundamental piece. But it remains to be seen how long he will be willing to endure this traumatic situation.

The doctors of the plant collaborate on a permanent basis with the Cordovan attacker. And how they entrusted to clarion, what they focus on is “balancing” the knee. It’s that Suárez can’t have continuity in training sessions, since he can’t complete them all one hundred percent and there are some that need to be differentiated.

Right in the moment in which Suárez needed his knee the most to answer be able to have a long preseason, it failed again. And this is demonstrated by not having been able to play even one minute of the two friendlies played so far (the last one will be played this Tuesday evening against Vasco da Gama), against Rayados de Monterrey and Millonarios de Bogotá in Miami.

And much more after a 2022 in which Cordovan had once again had a good presence in the team, generally entering the second half, and with exceptional participation. Indeed, his stats from last year support the footballing potential Suárez can bring to River since then In just 823 minutes played in 26 games, the Cordoba native scored nine goals and provided one assist. In other words, every 82 minutes he provided a decisive contribution to the average attack. And if he was no longer able to play, it wasn’t so much for his knee but for muscle injuries.

Indeed, the year he ended up playing while adding minutes in the first friendly of the era was Martín Demichelis (Thursday 22 December) against Unión La Calera in San Luis where he came on early in the second half for Pablo Solari and converted one of the goals in the penalty shootout.

The knee, the one for which he had to go to the operating room four times in his career, seemed to have healed after the last operation he underwent, in October 2021. But it wasn’t. It is no coincidence that doctors call it “complicated”.

It is that he has given Suárez worries since August 2012, when he was at Anderlecht in Belgium. A patellar tendon problem which included kneecap surgery (and a frustrated €11m transfer to CSKA Russia) was the first ailment. A year later, in October 2013, he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament. And in 2014 he suffered the same ligament injury again and underwent surgery for the third time in just three seasons. After the 2021 operation, in the January 2022 preseason in San Martín de Los Andes, Suárez was taken bit by bit.

Before the last operation, Suárez felt a lot of pain in his right knee. They have appeared, gone, and returned. They were the product of the synovial fluid that collected. They did an arthroscopy and after the surgery he started a new recovery as happened three other times in his career.

“The first problem Matías had in his right knee was an ossification of the patellar tendon, that is, he had a backbone and it caused him a lot of inflammation and pain. He came from Belgium to Córdoba for surgery in 2012. And that surgery improved his situation and he didn’t have any more problems. But a year later he also tore the cruciate ligament in that knee,” José María Luna, the Belgrano doctor, told Clarín when Suárez was already a River player in 2019.

He was able to play it without problems that year and was a prominent figure in River. Until in April 2021 the problems with that right knee that had mistreated him returned and which brought him back to the operating room in the first days of October of that year after a Superclásico in which the Millionaire team beat Boca 2 in 1 in the Monumental and the Cordovan played a few minutes.

Considering that the 34-year-old forward’s case is special, Demichelis’ coaching staff tends to vary Suárez’s training loads, also understanding that he is a footballer who can provide solutions in different attacking positions if he is in the best conditions. Demichelis, in fact, tested it both on the wing and inside. With a contract until December 31st, “Oreja” will try once again to do his best to return to play with the River shirt, beyond his future today we don’t know.