Ceni: Shoulder surgery won't end my career
Reuters - Saturday 28 January 2012, 18:24
Sao Paulo captain Rogerio Ceni, who
holds the world scoring record for a goalkeeper of 103 goals,
said shoulder surgery that has sidelined him for six months
would not end his career.
The 39-year-old Brazilian, a reserve in the team that won a
record fifth World Cup in 2002, had surgery on his right
shoulder on Friday after suffering a training injury on January 15.
"I'll miss [football] a lot during those months that I'll be
away from the fields but always thinking of returning," Ceni
said in a message posted on his personal website.
"This is not the end, we've still got a lot of things to
write together in this story," added Ceni, who reluctantly
accepted medical advice to have the operation and plans to
return in the second half of the year.
"We expect the goalkeeper to remain off the pitches for
close to six months during his recovery," surgeon Sergio
Schubert was quoted as saying on the club's website.
Ceni, most of whose goals have come from free-kicks with the
rest from penalties, is the only player to have turned out more
than 1,000 times for Sao Paulo and helped his club win three
Brazilian championships in a row between 2006 and 2008.
Sao Paulo, who are playing in the Paulista state
championship before the Brazilian first division kicks off in
May, said former Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano would stand in as
team captain during Ceni's absence.