As revealed in ONE, after a period of over six months without football, Lidor Cohen signed today in the uniform of Bangkok Glass, the Thai league champion last year. He put behind him perhaps the most difficult period of his career, a period in which he recovered from a combined injury to the cruciate ligament.
The 29-year-old Cohen, who played for Betar Jerusalem, Maccabi Petah Tikva and Hapoel Tel Aviv, saw himself only a few minutes away from winning the state cup together with the Reds last year and was even involved in a goal scored by Nir Klinger’s team at the time. A few months later, he was seen black when he was injured in the first round in the uniform of his previous team, Nongboa, where he even managed to cook.The ultrasound photo left no room for doubt.
Today, more than half a year later and just before he embarks on a new path, as reported on ONE, he talks about the difficult days he went through, how fit he is today, his new team and why he did not return to the country.
Lidor How are you these days?
“I can tell you that after six months and surgery, I feel much better and much stronger. Both mentally and physically.”
What is it like to be more than half a year without football…
“First of all, it’s the hardest thing an athlete has in general and not just a football player. To get injured for such a long time and not get up every morning to do the thing you love to do. And boy, I had a hard time surviving that. “
Tell about the moment after the injury. Take it very hard, what went through your mind?
“I can say that besides going through one of the injuries that the footballer is most afraid of – injury to the cruciate ligament, I went through a combined injury and more severe: with injury to the lateral ligament and a few other tears in the hamstring and hamstring. When you get the test results If you do not return to play or you return less well. You are very afraid that you will not be back to what you were before and on the other hand you very much hope to return to being strong. Uncertainty is the thing that hurts you the most. “I even talked to my immediate family. I had to digest it and recalculate a route.”
There were those who were surprised that you did not do the rehabilitation in the country.
“I had a very difficult dilemma whether to take things and return to the country to do the rehabilitation with the staff members I know or fight and continue here in order to show what I know. One of the reasons that left me here was my first game in Nungboa uniform, where I even managed to cook. Only one game, he managed to provoke waves and that is what in retrospect led to Thailand fighting for me to stay.
My previous team wanted me to stay and do the surgery in the city where I lived at the beginning of the season (Udon), but I refused because I knew I wanted the best doctor in Thailand, who is in Bangkok. The group issued me an ultimatum: if you do not do the rehabilitation with us, the contract will be canceled. “I told the professional manager that I refuse to do the rehabilitation with them, that I am not afraid of my abilities and believe that I will come back stronger and find a team here in Thailand.”
And inside you really believe that?
“Yes. I believed in myself and that’s why it was medically important to me, first of all to find the best doctor in Thailand and it does not matter which group it leads to. My agents from Thailand and Spain, together with Gilad and Shlomi the Israeli agents, found the best doctor there is in Thailand. “In connection with the champion’s physiotherapist. We built a plan of hard daily work for four or five hours every day.”
And who paid for this treatment?
“Everything came from me independently. After all, my contract was canceled and I received compensation of several salaries, which allowed me to live with dignity and only go through this period and rehabilitation.”
When you talk about rehabilitation. What do you mean?
“I can tell you I took on a project: I started the days at the pool in my building, then rested a bit and again start physiotherapy and gym training until the evening. It was run for six days a week, for a few hours.”
And how she got in BG (Bangkok Glass) For a picture?
“Like I said, they were in touch with the physiotherapist who works in the group all the time. They always knew my condition and from the first moment made it clear that I was welcome to train with them when I returned to full fitness. When I had the opportunity to impress It would be at first without a contract, but I was so hungry and believed that once I was just healthy, things would work out on the pitch.
I can thank them for the fact that even before I started training with the team itself, they allowed me to practice personal training for over two months in their training complex, so they actually accompanied me throughout the injury. “I think it is not obvious to take a player in such a situation and give him the opportunity to recover and later get a chance, when you do not even know if he will be your player.”
On the one hand you have to impress, on the other hand you have to be careful because you are still in rehabilitation.
‘Yes because on the one hand you are very scared and very careful because if you were in a place that knows your abilities then it would be easier. But in my case, I had one chance to show what I know in training. I did not have the time to think too much or be afraid. They did not know too much who I was. I remember in one of the trainings we worked on gate extensions and all eyes were on me. And I tell myself in my head to be careful with the kick and on the other hand I have to put in power for the ball to come in and impress me. ‘
So if I ask you, today, half a year after the injury, how fit are you?
“I can tell you that today my fitness is estimated at 85%. But I believe that within a month I will be able to reach full fitness completely, without fear and without stress. I still need some more time, because I still experienced a kind of trauma, but I do not worry and sure For a short time, I will return to being a Lidor of yesteryear. “
What did you learn from all this time?
“I can tell you, when you hear the phrase ‘all is well,’ it is sometimes interpreted as a kind of cliché. In my case, if I had to sum up the period I went through in one sentence, it would be this sentence. An opportunity from the Thai champions and suddenly maybe even playing in the home stage of the Asian Champions League. “
Tell a little about the group.
“When I arrived at the training complex, I was really amazed and I can tell you that if I compare it to Israel, both Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv do not have a complex at this level. It is at the highest levels in Europe. As far as the team is concerned, this year they will not take the championship but it is a club that fights every season for the championship with Borirham United (the former team of Gidi Kaniuk). There are a lot of national team players here. “
The Asian Champions League, even Eran Zehavi did not get to play there.
“Eran did not play in a team that managed to fight regularly at the top, so it is not an indication to compare. I come to a team that fights for this enterprise every year and comes automatically if it takes the championship. I have no doubt that this is a great opportunity to prove myself and gain some more experience. “I have to emphasize that, for me, this is also my only chance to play until the end of the season, because the transfer window in the Thai league is closed and in fact I can only join at the home stage next month.”
Back to Israel was not on the agenda?
“Honestly not. After my first game, which I cooked up and got injured, I came out with a feeling that I could succeed in the Thai league and said to myself that for me too, I would like to give myself some compensation for what I did not get to do at the beginning of the season. “First to do rehabilitation in the country, but fortunately, I got a special woman without whom I do not think I had the strength to go through such rehabilitation and such a period in a foreign country.”