Frank Lampard's Broken Hand

A few days ago, Frank Lampard broke his hand celebrating Everton's goal against Newcastle in the 99th minute. Or so he said, showing it on television.

He was swollen, but he flexed his fingers with no problem and in fact hadn't stopped shaking other hands with her during the long celebrations.

The euphoria was not only due to the late arrival of the winning goal (1-0; the game lasted nearly a quarter of an hour because a man had tied himself to a post by the neck to protest the Russian invasion of Ukraine) but to the general relief for an already unexpected victory of a historic club that has suddenly realized that it is in serious danger of going down to Second.

Everton was one of the five greats that conspired in the early 1990s to create the Premier League, but 20 years later it has fallen off that list and it has been expanded to six with the sudden enrichment enjoyed by Chelsea and Manchester City, which they added Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and, at least great in dreams, the Tottenham Spurs.

Frank Lampard did have a broken hand as a player.

Raised at West Ham, in 2001 he arrived at Abramovich's Chelsea, where he would stay until 2014 and become a legend.

At Stamford Bridge he won three Leagues, three England Cups, one Champions League and one Europa League.

His great season was 2004-05, when he was voted Premier League player of the year and came second in the Ballon d'Or behind the then-glorious Ronaldinho.

He is one of the few midfielders in the Premier League with more than 100 goals, many of them from outside the box.

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His career with England was less brilliant because, despite his 106 appearances and 29 goals, he did not win anything despite being part of one of the most praised generations of English football, with the likes of Beckham, Scholes, Owen, Rooney, Terry and Gerrard. .

His peak moment was the round of 16 of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa against Germany, when neither the referee nor the linesman saw a goal in a shot by Lampard that hit the crossbar, bounced clearly inside and returned to the field.

It would have been 2-2 in a game that was 2-0 after half an hour and ended 4-1.

A small German revenge of the phantom goal of 1966, the one that today we know was not a goal but gave England its only international victory.

Lampard, however, does not have a broken hand as a coach.

His prestige as a player and the left hand of his uncle, veteran coach Harry Redknapp, opened the doors of Derby County, in Second Division, for him in May 2018, just two years after leaving football.

Although the season was irregular, the Derby managed to finish sixth and play the

of ascent.

He beat Leeds United against prognosis in two legs but lost the final against Aston Villa.

That and his status as a club legend were enough for Abramovich to offer him the Chelsea bench.

Despite the fact that the club could not sign due to being sanctioned by UEFA, they managed to qualify for the Champions League.

The following year, however, was quite disastrous and he was dismissed in January 2021: he took over from Thomas Tuchel and won the Champions…

To the surprise of many, Everton chose him as a replacement for Rafa Benítez, sacked after losing nine of the last 12 games and leaving the team four points from relegation.

But things have not improved: with one win and five losses in the new manager's first six matches, Everton would be a single point from hell today had it not been for that now-famous goal against Newcastle in the 99th minute, when the

played with 10. Seen this way, it is not so strange that Frank Lampard broke his hand, or almost, with his wild celebration.

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