Eight years after being told he should be satisfied if he could walk again, 40-year-old former Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla scored the goal that put boyhood club Real Oviedo into the La Liga play-off final.
The Spaniard came off the bench at half-time with his side trailing 1-0 to Almeria in the play-off semi-final second leg.
Within four minutes, the midfielder scored a free-kick with his weaker left foot to put Oviedo 3-2 up on aggregate.
The 1-1 second-leg draw was enough for Oviedo to reach the play-off final, where they will face either Mirandes or Racing Santander.
“I’m just trying to enjoy what is left of my career, knowing that the end is closer,” Cazorla said after the game.
“I try to enjoy myself, which is the most important thing. I was sad that I wouldn’t start the game but I knew that this game was important. I’m happy I was able to help the team.”
Cazorla, a two-time European champion with Spain, spent six years at Arsenal and made 180 appearances before leaving in 2018.
The final two years of his time in north London were plagued with injuries.
Cazorla suffered an Achilles injury in October 2016, with the midfielder going on to have 11 operations to cure the problem.
One of the operations led to gangrene with doctors telling Cazorla he should be satisfied to walk again.
However, the Spaniard pushed to restart his football career and he had his Achilles reconstructed, with doctors grafting skin from his left arm – featuring a tattoo – to his right ankle.
Cazorla spent two years at La Liga club Villarreal after leaving Arsenal in 2018, before a three-year stint in Qatar.
He re-joined boyhood club Oviedo in 2023, taking on a minimum salary in the hope of returning the club to the top-flight for the first time since 2001.
