Ruud van Gol: nine months in fitness center?

His fighting spirit is bigger than that of most star players on this planet, but Ruud van Nistelrooy will have to move mountains this time around to maintain his spot at the firmament of greats…

In the last days, an elaborate operation has been executed by Doc Steadman in Vail, in order to restore the mess that we call his right knee. It will keep him off the pitch till next year’s summer and forms a serious threat to his career.

Wonder-doctor Steadman found a smashed outside meniscus, a tore in the first ligament and damages on the bone. And all that in a knee that already has been restored once, in 2000 by the same surgeon.

The scream on PSV’s Herdgang training complex can still be heard in the woods close to Eindhoven. The NOS cameras captured the injury while Ruud was recovering and the images are disturbing. His transfer to Man United was canceled (later appeared merely to be postponed) as his EC2000 in Holland was out of reach.

He did fight back after that and within one season he was the most expensive striker in England. That says a lot about the mentality of the favorite son of Geffen. But, he was 24 years old then and destined to become one of Europe’s biggest stars.

At the end of this season, he’ll be 33 years old and will have played 16 seasons of pro football! Years in which he worked every minute he played like a holding midfielder for Den Bosch, Heerenveen, PSV, Man United, Real Madrid and Oranje.

However, immediately after the operation, Van Gol stated he would go back to the fitness room for six months to fight his way back.

But Real Madrid’s management knows that this vulnerable knee will have to endure a lot if he returns to Champions League football and the ruthless defenders in the Primera Division.

Van Nistelrooy hopes the Gods will be kind: “Being back here, after eight years is not a good sign. I know that. But, Steadman is the best in the world and I trust him totally. He actually believes my knee could get stronger than ever.”

Van the Man injured his knee in the first match against Juve last month. After having rested for three games, he returned – again against Juventus – for the second leg game. Ten minutes before the end he was replaced. He’s not the only Real star to be out. Arjen Robben, Diarra and de la Red are also out for some time, while Cannavaro, Pepe and Metzelder aren’t totally fresh.

Coach Schuster is under a lot of pressure, while Rijkaard is already mentioned as his successor. Normally, a club like Madrid would immediately sign a new star in the winter break, but one of the main candidates – Klaas Jan Huntelaar – is also seriously injured.

It seems now, that after having failed to sign C Ronaldo, that Madrid set it’s sights on another Mancunian: Carlos Tevez.

Van Nistelrooy was on a roll in Madrid. He was the topscorer in Spain in his first season and won the title. He repeated that last feat and ended second in the topscorers’ list of the CL.

He had just retired from Oranje to focus fully on Real Madrid. But, when Henke Larsson visited Steadman with the words “my career is over”, the American made sure the Swedish star could add some wonderful years to his career.

Larsson still plays football, something that will give Van Nistelrooy hope.