From the sidelines: One player's fight to return from ACL injury
MANCHESTER, England - Hanna Glas had never heard of an anterior cruciate ligament before the Seattle Reign defender tore one of hers for the first time at age 17 during a Sweden national team development camp.
It would happen three more times over a roller-coaster career for the now-32-year-old Glas, once considered one of the best right backs in the women's game and now a walking encyclopaedia on ACL recovery.
"I remember I was very fatigued, especially in my head mentally," Glas said in an interview with Reuters. "I was performing really well but I just passed the ball, got a late tackle from the striker and my knee kind of pivoted."
ACL injuries have become a hot topic in women's football, with studies showing that women are up to eight times more likely to suffer the injury than men.
The quality of pitches, access to physiotherapy, hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle and properly-fitting boots have all been highlighted among potential contributing factors, with players such as England's Beth Mead, Dutchwoman Vivianne Miedema and Australian Sam Kerr all grudging members of the "ACL club."
Swiss striker Ramona Bachmann and England defender Ella Morris will both miss the July 2-27 European Championship in Switzerland after suffering ACL tears.
Glas will not play at the Euros for Sweden, announcing her international retirement last October to focus on her club career after her string of ACL injuries.
"Two is very tough. Three is extreme. Four, not many people I know have gone through that," she said.
The long recovery time makes the injury a devastating one. Four ACL injuries means about four years off the pitch in a professional career that typically lasts 10 to 15 years.
"I knew something had happened in my knee because it was painful, I remember screaming and crying," Glas said of her first knee injury. "But I never knew the seriousness of it or what it meant for me afterwards."
Glas agreed with experts who say the mental aspect of ACL recovery is crucial for a successful return.
BIGGEST BLOW
"It was tough because I was young. I did my best, but you also get separated from the team, you're not in the training sessions. And going through it a few more times, it's hard," she said.
"But I'm very competitive, so it was having all these small goal settings: able to walk, able to bike, run, jump, and then doing something with the ball -- those small goals helped me for my long-term goal to be returning to play football."
Glas suffered the same injury in the same knee in 2013. Number three in her other knee in 2015 was the biggest blow of the four, she said, having just received her first call-up for Sweden's senior team.
"Sometimes, in the moment you just want to give up," she said. "The third time, my dream was there and it got pulled away before I even had time to make it to camp. So there was feelings of 'Why?'
"But I'm better at understanding myself and allowing myself to feel sad, but knowing the next day I'm still going to do my best to be better."
She bounced back to have a terrific couple of seasons for Sweden and at Bayern Munich, helping the German side to the 2021 Champions League semi-finals. Her game-winner against Chelsea in the first leg was selected as the competition's best goal.
Glas was also a key part of the Sweden team that won silver at the 2020 Olympics and who were third at the 2019 World Cup, but a fourth torn ACL in September 2022 cost her the entirety of 2023 including the World Cup and half the 2024 season.
"I have a degree in physical therapy now," she joked. "Obviously, I learned a lot about the human body because I'm also very interested and curious."
Glas has cursed the spiteful football Gods a few times, and wondered: 'what if?'
"I've had a really successful career, so I'm still proud," she said. "But sometimes I'm really curious, what would have happened if I hadn't had all these seasons taken away from me, and been playing continuously. I think I could have been even better, because you get that with continuity.
"But it's shaped me too as a human. The difficult moments are when you learn and grow and improve as a person. I know I can get through tough situations; if something is coming at me, I know I can handle it." REUTERS
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