Yeremy Pino opens up on journey from ACL injury to Spain recall – “Learn from the process that it is very beautiful” | OneFootball

Last November, Yeremy Pino’s world was rocked when it was confirmed that he had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament. The 21-year-old Villarreal winger ended up missing the remainder of the 2023-24 season, while his dream of representing Spain at Euro 2024 also went up in smoke.

Pino returned to action in pre-season, but the months that he was out very incredibly difficult. It has been worth it, as he has earned a recall to the Spanish national team at the first opportunity. Upon his arrival, he sat down with La Roja’s media team to discuss his journey over the last 10 months.

“It has been very long and very hard, with moments of doubt and uncertainty without knowing if I was going to be able to return the same or not. In the end, here we are in a new opportunity, a new illusion like the first day, fighting for my dream.

“I remember that Mikel (Oyarzabal) when I was injured told me, ‘learn from the process that it is very beautiful’. At first I didn’t understand it, I thought it was s***, but over time I’ve seen that yes, you have to learn from it.”

Spain won Euro 2024 without Yeremy, who was in the final stages of his recovery while the tournament was going on. He admitted that it was tough to watch on, but support from teammates in Germany helped him.

“Not being there hurt me a little – I’m not going to deny it – but to see what they’ve achieved… I’ve been with them for a long time, since Luis (de la Fuente) came I’ve always been there and it’s like a family. I spoke many times with Luis, with Baena, with David (Raya) and with Alvaro (Morata) who made me feel part of the group even though I was not there. They gave me a lot of encouragement.”

Yeremy will be pushing to start Spain’s opening UEFA Nations League match against Serbia, which takes place on Thursday. It will be a very proud moment when he does step back on the pitch for La Roja.