Joe Gomez reflects on 'gruesome' injury that threatened to derail England career

  • Joe Gomez was out for 10 months after rupturing his patellar knee tendon during training in 2020
  • The Liverpool defender has reflected on the extent of this problem
  • Gomez is now back in the England squad after nearly four years away
Gomez has spoken on his injury troubles
Gomez has spoken on his injury troubles / James Baylis - AMA/GettyImages
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Liverpool defender Joe Gomez has reflected on the impact of a 'gruesome' injury during his last England call-up nearly four years ago.

It was during a training session with England in November 2020 when Gomez injured the tendons in his knee. This led to a 10-month spell on the sidelines and almost a four-year absence from the Three Lions squad.

The 26-year-old branded this injury as 'gruesome' and is happy to put the incident behind him as he returns to the national team.


Joe Gomez
Gomez hasn't been capped since 2020 / Marc Atkins/GettyImages

There were mixed feelings when Gomez arrived at St George's Park. Speaking to the media before Saturday's game with Brazil, he said: "We were doing an 11-versus-11 when I got the injury.

"It was unique, a patella tendon rupture. I was by myself. I just went to play a pass, I planted my foot and then it ruptured. It was quite gruesome. My knee cap was halfway up my leg and lot of it was a blur because it was a bit painful.

"The last time I saw Gareth I was on a bed waiting for the ambulance. From the outside looking in, nobody would realise but it [training on Tuesday] was a bit surreal. I prepared myself mentally to [be back out there] but I think, naturally, there was a bit of an underlying trauma that I can draw a line under.

"I would be lying if I said it did not have a psychological toll as I left here in an ambulance quite abruptly. Just doing the warm-up, it was nice to feel like I could close that chapter."

Gomez returns to the England squad to feature in the March friendlies against Brazil and Belgium, where he will finally have the chance to stake a claim for a place in Gareth Southgate's Euro 2024 squad.


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