It's been more than 11 years since one of the most horrific injuries that happened in football. In February of 2008, Eduardo Alves da Silva, a former Arsenal and Shakhtar player was massacred by Martin Taylor in Premier league match. Eduardo has spent his 25th birthday in hospital treating the injury while missing EURO 2008 in which his Croatia tragically lost in quarter-finals on penalties against Turkey. Only God knows what this Croatian squad could have accomplish if they had Eduardo in their opponents box. Before this injury happened Eduardo was playing in Arsenal starting 11 and was one of the greatest talents in the world. His incredible technique, control, precision and dribbling skills were just too impressive for his age. Eduardo was a real threat for any defence as he only had one or two touches before sending the ball into the net. A real 'Fox In The Box', deadly striker that scored most of his goals by brilliant first touch and magnificent finish.
After losing Eduardo Arsenal season started to go down rapidly and they lost every hope in Premiership title that year. It was one of the most tragic events in history of modern football to lose this kind of a player. Croatian attack was well backed-up by Olic (Bayern Munich) and Ivan Klasnic (Werder Bremen) but if you ask any Croatian about Eduardo there's a good chance that you'll bring tears to his eyes. Although he was born in Brazil many Croatians are still remembering the day where it all went wrong and where their football team lost a piece of its soul. In front of young Luka Modric (Tottenham), Rakitic (Schalke 04), Kranjcar (Portsmouth), Pranjic (Bayern Munich), Corluka (Man City), Srna (Shakhtar) and backed-up by Olic and Klasnic this Croatian generation was a problem for every team in the world. After beating England two times (2:0 and 2:3) in qualifications and winning 3/3 matches in their group (Germany, Austria and Poland) they have conceded goal in 123rd minute and lost on penalties against Turkey. If they managed to pass into 1/2 finals they would play against Germany that was already beaten in group phase. Another tragedy for Croatian team that had potential to reach the stars.
After his recovery Eduardo scored just few goals for Arsenal and was spending most of his time on the bench. In 2010 he transferred to Shakhtar where he stayed for 4 years but was never a same player ever again. Even if his prime time was pretty short, Eduardo still stands as third top goalscorer in the history of Croatia, right behind Davor Suker and Mario Mandzukic. The pain of Croatian and Arsenal fans could not be measured as he was fans favourite where ever he played. Eduardo will always be remembered as one of the greatest talents that was ruined by an injury.
If you're not familiar with Eduardo then check his set of skills on Youtube:
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