Chloe Kelly reveals she is ‘playing without fear’ after recovering from an ACL injury to make up England’s Euro 2022 squad… as the winger claims her spell on the touchline changed her mentality and taught her “to enjoy the moment”.
- Chloe Kelly suffered a cruciate ligament rupture last year and had to pause for almost 12 months
- She recovered in time to join Sarina Wiegman’s squad for Euro 2022
- Kelly has said she now plays without fear after her comeback
- She has also claimed that now she is learning to enjoy the moment more
England winger Chloe Kelly plays “without fear” and is living in the moment after defying all odds to be fit Euro 2022.
That Manchester City Star tore her anterior cruciate ligament in May 2021 and had to miss it Olympia With Team GB as well as most of the 2021-2022 season.
But Kelly returned to form in April and did enough to convince Sarina Wiegman that she deserved a spot in their 23-man roster.
Chloe Kelly suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in May 2021 and as a result missed last year’s Olympics
However, she did manage to get into England’s squad for Euro 2022 after returning in April
The 24-year-old came on as a substitute against Austria and Norway but is likely to feature in England’s final group game against Northern Ireland on Friday. And Kelly says her injury and time off the field has made her appreciate playing for her country even more.
“I have a completely different way of looking at things and a different mentality,” says Kelly. “I enjoy myself, I just live in the moment, enjoy the moment and if something like that [the injury] happens to you and you’ve been away from the game for so long that nothing can really upset you afterwards.
“I used to get pretty nervous before games and when I talk to my family and they ask if I’m nervous, I don’t get as much nervous as I used to because I’m like, ‘What’s the worst? It can happen?”
“I’ve been through the worst of anything that’s happened to me so far and I need to enjoy every moment and play without fear.”
Spain’s Alexia Putellas tore her cruciate ligament before the start of the EURO, while Kelly’s former Everton team-mate and Northern Ireland striker Simone Magill also suffered the same injury in their first game against Norway.
Kelly has come off the bench in both of England’s games in the tournament so far
She has claimed she is now learning to enjoy the moment after her injury hell
Kelly believes more research needs to be done on why ACL injuries are so common in women, but she also wants there to be less negativity when it happens to a player.
“I think for me, after going through rehab, I said it to my physical therapist at the end of rehab – ‘why is everyone so scared of this?’ Why did this person do their ACL and then there’s just negativity, that comes with it? Because it’s an injury and we wait nine to twelve months for it to happen once it happens.
“During my injury I always thought I’d be back sooner but it’s always there in the back of your mind that people say it’s nine to 12 months.
“I had a phase in my rehab where I actually thought I would be back in seven, but I had a setback and wasn’t. But I think the negativity surrounding ACLs, more than the research, is something I’d like to change because once someone does their ACL it’s like “will they go back to how they were before?” But why not ‘Cause you put everything into it like another injury.
“I think the negative noise around ACLs is probably what I’d like to change in the future. It’s difficult, but so is any injury. I think going through rehab when there’s so much ado about how bad it is probably makes it worse than what it actually is because any injury is difficult.
