Two players injured during the Euro2020 football championship finals have undergone surgery in the Finnish city of Turku over the past week.
The Italian and AS Roma defender Leonardo Spinazzola ruptured his left Achilles tendon during his side's 2-1 win over Belgium last Friday evening. Spinazzola arrived in Finland on Saturday and the operation was performed by orthopaedic surgeon Lasse Lempainen at Mehiläinen's sports injury clinic in Turku on Monday.
"The surgery went as planned and I am satisfied with the result. In the operating theatre, AS Roma's Chief Doctor Massimo Manara supervised the operation," Lempainen stated in a Mehiläinen press release.
Left wing-back Spinazzola had been one of the stand-out performers during the tournament for an impressive Italian side, but will now be out of action for a number of months while he recovers from the operation.
"We all feel sorry about the loss of our Spinazzola for a few months but that’s football and we have to be ready to start [pre-season training] next week," Roma's new manager Jose Mourinho said on Sunday.
Four months out for France forward
The France and FC Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembélé also underwent surgery at the Turku facility after he was injured during the Group F match between Hungary and France on 19 June.
"The player suffered a complete tear of the tendon of his right proximal hamstring around the knee area. FC Barcelona’s doctor Jordi Puigdellívol observed the operation, and we are very happy with the result," Lempainen said.
Dembélé now faces a four-month rehabilitation period, which will be planned by Lempainen and FC Barcelona’s medical team.
"The idea is that we’ll keep a close eye on his recovery together. The goal of the rehabilitation is to improve Dembélé’s level and performance even further. Another important goal is to prevent similar injuries from happening in the future," Lempainen said.
