ELKIN SOTO

Elkin Soto sufrió una fuerte lesión y el mundo del fútbol levantó la voz para apoyar al ‘Sultán’, él logró escuchar, ver y sentir todos los mensajes, en los que la gente solo espera su recuperación.

“No puedo ocultar la tristeza y el dolor que siento en este momento, pero al mismo tiempo me da mucha felicidad y fortaleza al ver todos los mensajes de mi familia, amigos, compañeros, hinchas y en general de toda la gente que me desea ver recuperado y de nuevo en las canchas. Pienso y me pregunto: '¿por qué despierto ese afecto en la gente?'. En ese mismo instante me doy cuenta que he hecho bien mi trabajo y que he dejado huella en la gente. Por eso y por muchas más razones me levantare más fuerte. Dios por delante. Un abrazo grande para todos”, fue el mensaje de Soto en Facebook.

El jugador de Mainz 05, sufrió una lesión en el partido que su equipo perdió 1-2 contra Hamburgo, en la fecha 31, en Alemania.

Después del partido, el club del colombiano comunicó oficialmente que, en el partido de este domingo, Soto sufrió una grave lesión, en la que "la articulación de su rodilla izquierda se dislocó por completo, a la vez que el ligamento cruzado anterior, el colateral y el menisco fueron arrancados y salieron de su lugar", dice el comunicado del equipo.

The Mainz midfielder Elkin Soto, who was due to be out of contract at the end of the season, suffered an horrific knee injury during his side’s 2-1 defeat to Hamburg on Sunday and was immediately offered a new contract by the club in order to cover his recuperation period.

Mainz had not intended to renew Soto’s contract in the summer and the player had planned to return to his native Colombia in order to finish his career there.

But after his 33rd minute injury – which was caused in a collision with Hamburg’s Rafael van der Vaart – he faces a substantial period out of action after suffering a total dislocation of his knee in which the anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and meniscus were all torn away from the articular capsule.

Immediately after the match, the Mainz director of football, Christian Heidel, said the club planned to offer the 34-year-old midfielder a one-year contract extension. Soto has spent eight years at Mainz after joining them from Ecuador’s Barcelona Sporting Club.

“Initially he wanted to return at the end of the season to his home country,” said the club. “But from Mainz this deserving professional can expect full backing. Before the prospect for a new contract can become reality it is all about Soto’s recovery.”

“As soon as his operation is done, he could sign a new contract with us, immediately,” added Heidel.

Hamburg took the lead four minutes after play resumed following Soto’s injury, before his replacement Yunas Malli scored an equaliser 14 minutes from time. Hamburg’s Gojko Kacar then scored his side’s winner in the 86th minute.

“It was a very unfortunate incident,” said the club’s manager, Martin Schmidt. “We’re hoping that it won’t end Elkin’s career. You could see the effects of the incident during the game. Up until then we were playing well but after that we lost our rhythm. We talked about the injury and wanted to turn the game around for Elkin. We wanted more after levelling the score at 1-1 but then lost it all in the 86th minute. We didn’t have any reply to that.”

Hamburg’s manager, Bruno Labbadia, also wished Soto a good recovery.