The Copa América was the main objective of defender Éder Militão. Soon after suffering a serious knee injury in August, the Real Madrid player decided that competing in the competition in the United States for the Brazilian National Team would be his main goal in his career comeback. And he succeeded. Militão is one of the players called up by coach Dorival Júnior to participate in the Copa América, which will open on Thursday (20th) in Atlanta.
“I had the support of my family and teammates to bounce back. Especially the affection of Jaime (Moreno, physiotherapist) from Real Madrid gave me a lot of support, we spent a lot of time together in the beginning. I told him that my thought was to come back to help in the Copa América, it was a competition that I wanted to be a part of and be part of this group. I was out of Diniz’s and Dorival’s call-ups, but I bounced back and I’m here,” said the Real Madrid defender, during the press conference held on Tuesday (18th) in Orlando, where Brazil is preparing for the tournament.
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Militão ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee on the opening day of the Spanish Championship, on August 12th. In the interview, he remembered the slow recovery to return to playing.
“It was a very difficult injury. You can’t take bigger steps than your leg. I needed 100% help in the first few months. The metal has to be very strong. You keep asking yourself why this happened. But I was able to recover and I’m here to help the National Team,” said the defender, who was a starter in the 3-2 win against Mexico, in Texas, on the 8th, Brazil’s first warm-up match for the tournament.
Militão has already been a Copa América champion. He participated in the campaign of the 2019 edition, won by the National Team at the Maracanã. On that occasion, Brazil defeated Peru 3-1 and lifted the trophy for the ninth time.
“It was one of my first years, I’m happy to have a Copa América. Maintain our unity, all this time I’ve been here. Our joy, the group we have in this time even with the entry and exit of players remains the same joy. It’s to take that to the field. Copa América is detail. Take that grit and joy to the field,” said the player.
On Thursday, the Brazilian delegation will leave Orlando and board for Los Angeles, where they will play their opening match. On Monday (24th), the National Team will face Costa Rica at the SoFi Stadium. Paraguay and Colombia are also part of Brazil’s group in the first phase of the Copa América.
