Ahead of schedule
A helmet. That was the first thing anyone noticed. Emiliano Martinez turned up at Argentina training on Thursday with his head fully protected, less than four weeks after the collision that put him in hospital.
The date was October 17. The Chelsea goalkeeper went up for a ball and clattered into Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite, and left the pitch on a stretcher. Surgery on a fractured jaw followed. The early forecast had him out for well over a month.
He is clearly beating it. Argentina’s team doctor told TyC Sports that Martinez had recovered “very well”, saw the specialists chosen by his club and ticked off every step of the protocol. He was already back with the group at Cobham last week, and trained with the Chelsea squad on Friday and Saturday before flying out to join Lionel Scaloni’s camp.
no renewal
Free for 2 weeks.
Fit to train, not yet cleared to start
None of that means he plays. Argentina face Uruguay and Costa Rica in friendlies during this window, and the doctor was careful with his words. The original plan was for Martinez to sit both games out. Then he trained normally two days running, and the staff began to reconsider.
“We will see how he feels tomorrow morning,” the doctor said, adding that the final call does not rest on his opinion alone and that many factors come into it. Chelsea and the national team are coordinating the rehab between them, and the helmet will stay on throughout a gradual return.
Rulli the likely starter
Scaloni has no reason to gamble in a friendly. Geronimo Rulli, the usual understudy, is expected to start against Uruguay. For Chelsea, the bigger win is simply seeing their goalkeeper back on the grass and moving freely well ahead of the initial timeline.
For Martinez, it is another chapter in a long relationship with pain thresholds. The 2022 World Cup winner has never been one to sit and watch.
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