Cudicini:I will return

Carlo Cudicini has vowed to comeback from his injuries to play first-team football again.

The Italian ‘keeper suffered horrific injuries in a motorcycle accident in November, breaking both wrists as well as his pelvis after colliding with a Ford Fiesta.

A lot of people wrote off the 36 year-old at that point, believing those injuries at his age would put paid to his professional career.

He still has a plate in his arm, and still needs the aid of crutches to walk, but he is determined to make a return to action with Tottenham, although he can’t yet set a date for a return to first-team affairs.

“In my mind, I knew I could come back.

“I spoke with the surgeon and he said, ‘Yes, it is a bad injury but we will see.’ But as long as they don’t say ‘Sorry, you are finished’ then you always have hope.

“As a sportsman, you set yourself goals and targets and my aim is definitely to be back playing – all my energies are centred on going back to what I was doing. I just don’t know when.”

Cudicini is well aware of what an uphill task it will be and knows that mentally, it will be the most difficult point of his career.

“Yes, this is definitely the worst thing that has ever happened to me, so it will obviously be the toughest task I have ever had to face, especially mentally.

“I think I am mentally strong. But even so, there were times in the hospital when I got low and thought, ‘This is bad, this is going to take some time, I’m not 25 any more…’

“You have these kind of thoughts, those doubts, definitely. You are human.

“But at the same time, I realised straight away I was lucky to be there at all. And it certainly makes you understand a lot of things, like how lucky you are – you are a footballer, you are doing what you like, earning a lot of money.

“But also, when something like this happens, you realise you are just like normal people and how bad this could have been and still could be.”

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