The left-back returned to one of the most difficult moments of his life: "I was told I would never play football again. I used a wheelchair for a long time, after that I learned to walk again"
Mandy.
Inspiring
Photo:
AFP
Suffering from a particularly short squad due to an injury blow, Real Madrid will face Atlanta on Wednesday for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
In preparation for the match, the Blancos' left-back was interviewed on the official UEFA website and returned to one of the most difficult moments of his life, when he was 15 years old.
"It's a great story, I went through a difficult moment but I was able to recover from it," the Frenchman said.
"I played 7 years in Paris Saint-Germain, I started in the team until the age of 11 but I was injured just before I entered the academy. I suffered from arthritis in my hip and I had an infection, so I had surgery and was in the hospital for long rehabilitation. "He said I would never play football. He even said I might have to amputate my leg. I was in a wheelchair for quite some time, then on crutches and after that I had to learn to walk again."
Despite the doctor's dismal outlook, Mandy admitted he never gave up hope of returning to playing football.
"I thought I would be able to walk right away. I tried, I lifted myself from the wheelchair but fell right away. I had no energy left in my legs because I had not walked for so long and my legs were not used to moving," he explained.
"But even so, I always believed that football was not over for me and told everyone I was going to play again. Most people thought it was impossible, but I learned to walk again and played with hip pain for about a year and a half. I was voted best left defender for two years in a row. I got along well. "