Chloe Kelly has revealed how she fought back from her ACL injury to score the winner in last summer's European Championship final.
Kelly became a super-sub for the Lionesses when she scored a historic winner to beat Germany 2-1 in the final at Wembley last summer. Incredibly, she had only made the tournament after winning her race against a career-threatening anterior cruciate ligament injury.
ACL injuries have sadly become a regular feature in the women's game in recent seasons with Alexia Putellas, Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema and Marie-Antoinette Katoto just a few of those to have suffered with them this year. Kelly was the fourth highest scorer in the WSL at the end of the 2020-21 season, when she sustained the injury in an end of season game with Birmingham and caused her to miss 11 months of action.
The 24-year-old managed to return just in time to be part of the Lionesses' Euros squad. In an interview with 90min Football, Kelly explained how she felt after going down in agony following a clash of knees against Birmingham back in May 2021.
"I had scored twice in the game," recalls Kelly. "And I remember the ball coming over the top and thinking 'I'm going to get my hat-trick here'. That was the first thought through my head. I drove with the ball, chopped it back and from then I just remember screaming, 'my knee'."
"I don't actually know what I felt. I just screamed. It wasn't the pain, it was just the thought that I knew I'd done something. When the medics came on I actually wanted to take the penalty I had just won. I told them I'm fine. But everything around my knee was hurting. My first thought was ACL, that is always a fear with your knee.
"I think in my heart of hearts I knew it would be something bad. When I found out it was my ACL I just cried my eyes out. I facetimed my family and just burst into tears.
"It sound stupid but the next day I got my eyelashes done and thought 'right I've had my eyelashes done now and I can't cry anymore.' It sounds crazy but I needed to get over it and tears weren't going to fix anything."
Despite being stretched off the pitch, Kelly wasn't in immediate pain the following day but the doctor at City quickly diagnosed the issue as her ACL. The winger had surgery on May 12 2021, raising immediate doubts over whether she would play the Euros the following year.
She spent nearly a year on the sidelines, missing the Olympic Games while undergoing an intense rehabilitation programme. Kelly managed to return towards the end of the season to make seven appearances for City, enough for Wiegman to select her for the European Championships.
Kelly revealed that ticking off small goals and gradually building up her strength, was key to successfully recovering in time for the Euros.
"You have to learn how to walk, so it was about the little milestones," added Kelly. "Being able to squat, the being able to hop, you tick them off and see those little gains. That is what set me up for the bigger picture, I never looked too far ahead.
"I knew what I put into the rehab, so I believed my knee would be ok. I now know I can push my body to places I've never been before, I'm so much stronger."
Kelly not only managed to win her race against fitness for the tournament, but then wrote her name into English football folklore by poking home from close-range in the 110th minute of the European Championship final against Germany.
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