Rhian Wilkinson's Official Website

RHIAN'S SOCCER JOURNALS:

SECOND MATCH VERSUS USA AND INJURY 28th July 2009

Even though I have already posted a journal for the second game against the United States, I wanted to say again how proud I am of the team. I am well aware that the Americans are still considered to be technically better than we are, and even fitter than we are, but I don't think we are that far behind.

When you consider our (and please note the massive amounts of irony here), slightly different national training regimes and budgets, the results in both games are encouraging.

In the first game there was some luck involved in keeping the score close, and even though we held on valiantly, they were better than us and they deserved the victory.

In the second game though, I feel that we played a much better game, we had enjoyed practice time together, we were less intimidated, and we could easily have won. In all our games we probably rely a little too much on our outstanding goalies, but the Hope Solo, the American goalie had to play just as well in these games to keep us off the score sheet. There is little doubt in my mind that all three of our Canadian goalkeepers would be starters on most other national teams.

In total, from the six days of camp, we had only two full days of practice together, and we still managed not only to play with the FIFA number one ranked Americans, but play them toe-to-toe until the final minutes of two matches. I can’t wait until we manage to have a full camp under Carolina Morace and the staff coaches; there is so much she can do with the team.

In other news, I know that most people are now aware that I was injured in the first game in Rochester, New York. I am not often injured and I find it very annoying.

At about the 70th minute, I was hit hard in the lower back by an American player making a diving header. As the game went on my back started to cramp and get tighter and tighter. By the final whistle my whole back was going into spasms.

For the next two days I tried to rest and ice the area, but there did not seem to be any improvement. Team doctor Andrew Pipe finally became annoyed with my complaining, and took me to a local clinic to get a CT scan. It turned out that I have a fractured transverse bone on my L2 vertebra. This is one of the small bones that is on the side of the spinal column.

This is all very dramatic, but it sounds much worse than it really is. The fracture is rather like breaking a rib, painful and swollen, but there is not much you can do for it except rest. I was as shocked as anyone when I learned I had broken a bone in my back. I am told by the doctors that this type of injury takes around 6 weeks to heal, but we shall see. I have been out for a week now and already my back feels much stronger and the swelling has subsided. Of course, there are certain movements that I could do without. but on the whole I am already feeling way better and know that I will soon be back. I am still training, but can only manage straight running at present, as any twisting or impact causes sharp pain. The minimum for recovery is apparently three weeks for primary bone growth to be established but, my body is a quick healing machine!