Rise instead of amputation: Once upon a time there was the returnee Santi Cazorla

Santi Cazorla, two-time European champion with Spain and now 40 years old, returns to his boyhood club and lifts them into the top flight – after 24 years away. It's the fairytale final act of a career that screenwriters couldn't have imagined in a more cheesy way.

No, Santi Cazorla doesn't seem to be feeling any pressure anymore. Not even now, in the 39th minute of the second leg of the final for promotion to La Liga, Spain's top tier. The score is 0-1. Referee Miguel Sesma Espinosa has just awarded Cazorla's team, Real Oviedo, a penalty. Alberto Reina, the captain of opponents CD Mirandés, had clearly blocked a header from close range with his arm. Now the ball is on the penalty spot, and Cazorla is ready. He takes a long run-up and shoots the ball low into the middle with his right foot - into the goal.

It's the crucial equalizer, and now the atmosphere in the stadium is buzzing. It comes at just the right time, as Oviedo had lost the first leg 1-0. Salvation comes at 11:40 p.m.: Real Oviedo is promoted thanks to a 3-1 win after extra time. After 24 endless years, multiple relegations, and the threat of bankruptcy, the club from Asturias is back.

It's a relief for fans and officials. They've been so close so many times. In 2022, they finished seventh. The following year, Cazorla returns to the club he played for as a youth. But once again, Oviedo narrowly misses the promotion playoffs, finishing eighth. To qualify, they need sixth place. The club does reach that position in 2024, but in the playoffs, Oviedo loses 2-0 to Espanyol Barcelona after a 1-0 win in the first leg of the final. "For me, getting promoted with Oviedo would be the same as winning my first European Championship," said Cazorla ahead of the second leg against Mirandés. "It's the most important game of my career."

Santi Cazorla threatened with amputation

The fact that Santi Cazorla played just 72 minutes for Real Oviedo last Saturday was extraordinary. Not only because he's still playing at 40. Most of his professional colleagues retire from football long before that. But also because Cazorla had threatened to have part of his right leg amputated. His ordeal began in 2013. The pain began with a blow to his ankle. "When I was warmed up, I could play, but as soon as I cooled down a bit at halftime, I could have cried from the pain," Cazorla later told the Spanish sports newspaper "Marca."

At first, he grit his teeth, driven by passion and ambition. By this point, he was already a two-time European champion (2008 and 2012). But by the fall of 2016, he was no longer able to. Meanwhile, an infection had spread to the area of ​​his foot. His doctor, Dr. Mikel Sanchez, told the newspaper: "The infection damaged the ankle and consumed part of the Achilles tendon. Suddenly, eight centimeters of the tendon were missing." At the time, Cazorla was playing for Arsenal, with whom he won two FA Cups and a Super Cup. His coach at the time was Arsène Wenger, who also described the injury to the 81-time Spanish international in drastic terms: "It's the worst injury I've ever seen. It just kept getting worse."

Cazorla would be lucky if he could still run around in the garden with his son, according to the doctors. They dismissed the thought of professional football. But the Spaniard was not satisfied with that. He wanted to get back on the football pitch and underwent several operations. Doctors repaired his Achilles tendon, and today a scrap of the tattoo from his arm remains in its place. The surgeons had to transplant skin from there to patch Cazorla back together. It was a monument to his suffering, a reminder of the lowest point in his career. Cazorla's contract in London was running out, and he would not play on the pitch again until he was in Spain for Villarreal FC. He eventually returned home to Oviedo via Qatar.

City erects a monument to Cazorla

"I've experienced a lot, but the connection with this club makes this unique," the attacking midfielder says today about his relationship with Oviedo. Upon his return, he even wants to play for free. Because the league prohibits this, according to the British "Guardian," he plays for the minimum wage of the second division. Depending on the source, it is said to be between €77,000 and €93,000 a year. "My wife said: 'No, you're not going there to earn money, but to have fun, to give and help,'" Cazorla told the newspaper. He also stipulates that 10 percent of the proceeds from jerseys bearing his name should go to the youth academy. Cazorla is an excellent footballer when he's healthy. And an even better person, it seems.

The promotion brings things full circle. Cazorla was born in Lugo de Llanera, very close to Oviedo. Now he has reached the goal of his dreams, in the first division with Real Oviedo. "I am the happiest man in the world," he told the radio station "Cope." It is still unclear whether he will once again wear the jersey of his beloved club in La Liga. His contract expires at the end of June. But according to "Cope," club president Martín Peláez is working on an extension. This news is sure to make the hearts of Real Oviedo fans beat faster. And Oviedo's mayor, Alfredo Canteli, goes one step further: "Plaza América will be renamed Plaza Santi Cazorla." The square is in the heart of the city, and Cazorla has long been in the hearts of the fans.

It's the ultimate tribute to a man who is already immortal in this city of approximately 226,000 inhabitants. They'll probably be telling the tale of Santi Cazorla at Real Oviedo for years to come.