When the news of Royce missing the World Cup in Qatar came, I suddenly remembered an interview four years ago.
It was Germany's last warm-up match before the 2018 World Cup. Asked if he would be nervous, Royce replied: "To be honest, I'm really worried about my health right now. I've never been afraid of the game, but I'm really afraid of getting hurt. ”
Four years ago, he was injured in the last warm-up match before the World Cup in Brazil, creating a lifetime of regrets.
What kind of existence was Royce originally like that year? He scored 16 goals and provided 14 assists in 30 Bundesliga games, finishing in the top three at the Ballon d'Or odds after the season. In the German national team, he is not only an absolute workhorse, but also directly evaluated by Loew as "the core of our attack".
However, the Armenian player did not make a bad tackle, leaving Reus to stay on the couch at home and watch his teammates go all the way to the final to win the title. In the wild celebration of Maracana, his friend Goetze, who scored the killer goal, held up his shirt.
It's really warm, but it doesn't take away all of Royce's pain.
【"My World Cup is over"】
Four years later, before the World Cup in Russia, he finally overcame his fears and started his final warm-up match against Germany.
After providing an assist for Timo Werner in the opening stages, he was substituted in the 57th minute. Contributed, not injured, everything seemed to be going well.
However, no one could have imagined that when he stood up, the German team fell.
Eight days later, in the opening group stage match against Mexico, Germany suffered defeat. After that, they won a difficult victory over Sweden, and in the final round they had to beat South Korea to qualify from the group. Reus and his teammates tried their best but couldn't attack for a long time, but Kim Young-kwon and Son Heung-min each scored a goal in injury time...
His first World Cup was over, at the age of 29. Looking back now, we know that the goal against Sweden and the assist given to Kroos were not only all the highlights of the German team in the World Cup in Russia, but also all the memories that Reus left for the World Cup.
A month later, Royce said a lot in an interview.
The reporter reminded him that after the loss to South Korea, the players did not even thank the German fans who came from afar. Royce said everyone was devastated and couldn't think about anything else, especially himself: "I was thinking, my World Cup is over, it feels like it's all over. ”
Back in the dressing room, many German players were in tears, but regret was no longer useful. Reus felt luck was not on Germany's side, as they did not lack chances in the two games they lost. But he also felt that he could have done better: "Everyone's thinking is not very unified, and some people may not pay much attention to this World Cup..."
He said he wasn't blaming anyone else. In the world of football, burnout from the accolades you've already won is a common thing. It's his first World Cup, but a lot of his teammates have fulfilled their dreams four years ago and the mentality is destined to be different.
Missing that summit was his own business.
Royce really didn't want to miss out on more, but fate didn't say yes.
He once told an interesting story: when they were just about to have a child, Royce's parents had planned to name their son Dennis, not Marko now. It was because his father saw Van Basten's stunning zero-degree goal in the 1988 European Championship final and decided to let his children be called Marko like Van Basten.
However, his children failed to shine in the finals like Van Basten, but like Van Basten, they were plagued by injuries throughout their careers.
After the World Cup in Brazil, Loew still used Reus, and when the injury was better, he continued to be included in the main squad for the European Championship qualifiers. However, he suffered an ankle injury in the match against Scotland and missed several games. He had just played a few games and was injured again in the Bundesliga against Paderborn, still with a fragile ankle.
In 2014-15, Reus was stuck in a cycle of injuries, but fortunately he was able to connect seamlessly with each comeback. In the 2015-16 season, Reus played completely without any major injuries, with 12 goals and 4 assists in the Bundesliga, 9 goals and 2 assists in the Europa League, 2 goals and 2 assists in the German Cup... At the end of the season, he said to the camera: "I want to play, I want to go to France to play in the European Championship in good health. I wanted to show there what I couldn't show in 2014. “
A month later, just before German coach Loew was about to announce his squad, Reus bid farewell to the European Championship with a severe groin strain.
【Accept fate, learn to choose】
That groin injury kept Reus out of the ring for six months. The nickname "Glass Man" became popular, and even a famous meme appeared on social media: we saw Royce on the cover of FIFA17 more times than on the pitch.
The next two years were still a familiar cycle. The comeback was followed by a brace and an assist hat-and-g, and was injured shortly after. He scored five goals in six games again, and was again stretcher and taken to hospital during training. Toes, groin, thigh ligaments, thighs and small regressor muscles... Hurt all over.
The most helpless and hilarious story happened in the 2017-18 season. Reus was rested for 220 days with a ruptured cruciate ligament, and Tuchel was still in charge when he was injured and was back in Stoger when he returned. On the first day back in the locker room, a teammate joked with him: "Hey bro, did you hear that we changed the head coach called Bose before?" From the time he came and went, I didn't know that there was a Royce in our team! ”
During repeated treatment and rehabilitation, Reus lost patience for a while, so he said in an interview: "We stars can make a lot of money, and we must also accept to pay the price for our health." Some people will say, you make so much money, this kind of thing doesn't matter at all. However, I am willing to trade all my money for my health so that I can always play football. ”
That didn't change until the 2018-19 season. On the one hand, he took the initiative to give up the "little rocket" kick on the side that was unlikely to continue, and came to the middle to participate in the organization more and more to reduce the consumption of the body. On the other hand, he finally participated in the World Cup in Russia, even if he was out of the group stage, he finally stood on this stage.
When the reporter asked again about the previous statement of "using all the money for health", Royce's mentality also underwent some subtle changes.
"Frankly, I don't mean it exactly. If you're a player and you're out with a serious injury for 6 to 8 months or more, it's easy to say that at that time. You want to get serious about your business and enjoy it. But if you're out for so long, you'll find that even that wish becomes so hard to fulfill. ”
It's not like regret, it's more like a compromise, or a lot of obsession.
I don't know if it's for this reason, but after the cruciate ligament rupture in 2018, Reus gradually tore off the label of injury. His attendance at Dortmund has been stable at around 30 games a season, and although he is no longer the "little rocket", he is still good at scoring assists and tandem organization.
He made a number of difficult trade-offs, including voluntarily announcing that he had given up last year's European Championship to give his tired body some time to recover from a major injury in recent years. Although this move attracted the dissatisfaction of German celebrities such as Harman, more people said that it was really understandable.
Since it is a trade-off, what does he value most?
The answer may still be the World Cup.
【"My dreams are shattered"】
Dortmund director and Reuss' young captain Kyle once said in an interview: "Reus decided not to play in the European Championship because he was already very tired considering the injury history. But this year's World Cup is different, and this should be the last big tournament for Royce to play. ”
Royce has learned to accept fate, but fate still plays a merciless joke on him.
In September, Reus fell to the ground injured in the 27th minute of the Ruhr derby, clutching his face in pain and being carried off the field on a stretcher. Many viewers at the scene and in front of the TV had a bad premonition: it was before the World Cup was about to start, could it be...
The news of the next day put many people at ease. Royce has no broken bones, just a sprained ankle ligament, and is expected to recover in about three weeks and be back on the pitch in October.
In order to catch the World Cup, Reus found Munich expert Ralf Frank, and maintained constant communication with German coach Frick and team doctor Josen Hane, and worked with Dortmund to develop a detailed rehabilitation plan. From when to resume training competitions, to how to pay attention to posture when walking. In Frick's plan, he is still a strong contender for the forward position of the 4231 formation, along with Muller and Musiala.
However, as soon as he returned to face Union Berlin, he was injured again. On his second comeback after half a month, Dortmund officials posted a photo of him before the game against Bochum last week: "Marko is back! As a result, he limped out of the stadium after the game.
The bad premonition gradually came true until the day the German team officially announced the World Cup squad. People were surprised to see the golden boy Goetze holding the Reuss shirt 8 years ago, and then regretfully but not surprisingly found out that there was no Reus.
Royce said on social media: "My dreams are shattered. I wish all the best to the guys who went to Qatar and I will pray for you at home. ”
In the 2014 World Cup final, the German Football Association invited Reus to the scene, and if he won the championship, he could celebrate with his teammates after the game. But he declined, because it was not his champion. And this time, no matter what the German team achieves, he can only stay at home as a fan.
In his entire career, Reus has played only one European Championship and one World Cup. In 2012, he was also known as a junior; In 2018, he was out of the group with Germany.
Will the 35-year-old Reus still have a chance to appear on the European Cup stage in 2024? Estimates are hard.
But I believe that Royce can now face all this more calmly.
As he said before: "When it comes to injuries, I'm more relaxed now. As they get older, people become more aware of their physical condition. Maybe I can get back what the injuries made me miss out in the past, but setbacks are part of life and you can't give up. “
Too many good players don't have a chance to play in the World Cup, and Reus has left us with very few World Cup memories. But we still remember how many great goals he scored in Westphalia and how many years he stayed alone in the crowd of Dortmund. Reus never gave up on football, and football never gave up on Reus.
That's really enough.
Bless you with every season and every game ahead, Little Rocket.