Zoya given a year off international football

It has been a painful New Year’s start for Emmanuel Zoya. On Wednesday it got worse. He received a medical report reading: “No running for one to two months…no international football for one year.”

After a medical check-up at Beit Cure International Hospital in Blantyre, the Flames wing back came out with the report that effectively condemned him from the preliminary round qualifiers for 2013 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2014 World Cup.

“It is a huge blow as staying out for that long means surviving the hard way. But what else can I do? I have to respect the doctor’s advice lest I compromise my career,” said the Civo United left back, visibly in mental pain when he visited The Nation.

The 21-year-old defender, who understudies Moses Chavula in the Flames, was rushed back home from Tanzania, a day after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) at the 2011 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup last December.

After the initial surgery on the left leg at the specialist Blantyre hospital, he was restricted from sprinting for nine months which were on Wednesday reduced to within two months.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) are footing the bills for Zoya whoseWednesday’s check-up cost K11 000 (about $658). The whole bill is over K100 000 (about $600).

“I am grateful to the association for meeting all my expenses, including for accommodation,” said the defender who suffered a similar injury on January 1 2011 during a club game.

ACL is one of the most important of four strong ligaments connecting the bones of the knee joint. Ligaments are strong, dense structures made of connective tissue that stabilise a joint. They connect bone to bone across the joint, reads www.ehealthmd.com.

ACL results from overstretching of this ligament within the knee. Zoya first suffered a similar injury on the upper side of the left knee then on the lower side, according to the website. He has 10 caps.