After overcoming a long absence of more than 4 months without playing with the
River
shirt and about 90 days without doing it officially, after playing the World Cup in Qatar with the Uruguayan National Team,
Nicolás De La Cruz
finally seemed to have recovered from his problems in the right knee and began little by little to be the engine of the midfield of Martín Demichelis's team.
However, synovitis forced him to slow down.
The Uruguayan lives with a situation very similar to that of Matías Suárez, since he suffers from the same injury, which prevented him from continuing to play after four appearances, against Arsenal, Lanús, Racing de Córdoba and Godoy Cruz.
And so again he had to resume differentiated jobs, something that had already happened to him in the preseason in the United States after having undergone stem cell treatment in the area after the World Cup in Qatar, with the intention of leaving the pain behind.
The 25-year-old midfielder made his debut in the Demichelis era against Arsenal, a game in which he played the last 29 minutes at the Monumental.
Then, he added 25' against Racing de Córdoba for the Argentine Cup and started against Lanús (played 79') and Godoy Cruz (65'), but after that series, last Wednesday he suffered a relapse that forced him to undergo a medical and physiokinetic treatment for 10 or 12 days, according to River's medical staff.
De la Cruz is key in the Demichelis scheme.
Photo: AFP
In this context, De La Cruz could not join the Uruguayan team to play the friendlies against Japan (3/24) and South Korea (3/28) in Tokyo and Seoul, respectively, and takes advantage of the break for the FIFA date to continue with his recovery and
thus try to be able to return on the next date of the Professional League against Unión
, a match that will be played on Friday, March 31 at the Monumental, or be ready for the start of the Copa Libertadores, the first week of April.
For now, De La Cruz will continue training in a differentiated way while his teammates prepare for the friendly in Salta against the University of Chile, which will be played on Saturday night.
The idea of the coaching staff is not to rush his return beyond having lost a player who had joined the team so as not to leave
and who does not have another player on the squad who can provide the same characteristics.
"Nico is different, he is one of the best players in Argentine soccer. Being well gives us a plus. He has dynamics, a lot of change of pace, intelligence," Demichelis said of the Uruguayan. And although the coach has variants to be able to replace him He is looking forward to the return of the dark-haired midfielder because, as he himself said, he gives an extra to the team's game, not only since its creation but also for the recovery of the ball.
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