Players left in tears as A-League star suffers horrific leg injury
An A-League fixture between Adelaide United and Melbourne City had to come to a standstill after a horrific leg injury to Juande Prados Lopez.
The Adelaide player had just come off the bench when a tackle on City substitute Florin Berenguer in the 69th minute went wrong.
The player was left with a terrible-looking broken lower leg as his own teammates and opposition players rushed to his aid.
Medical personnel stabilised Juande as his Spanish teammate Javi Lopez was left in tears as he stayed by his teammate's side.
teammate Javi Lopez distraught watching on #MCYvADL pic.twitter.com/fr9ClmBQPf
— Evan Morgan Grahame (@Evan_M_G) January 29, 2023
However, the footballer had to wait 13 minutes for an ambulance to arrive as it was soon revealed that there was none on standby.
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The game had to be halted for 35 minutes as the 36-year-old waited 13 minutes to receive attention from paramedics.
Juande was eventually covered up with towels in order to hide the injury from onlookers and broadcast.
Our thoughts are with @AdelaideUnited's Juande, who suffered a serious injury at AAMI Park tonight.
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) January 29, 2023
Get well soon, mate ❤️ pic.twitter.com/wkiwpoPKgW
A-Leagues boss Greg O’Rourke defended the lack of an ambulance and explained why there wasn’t one on standby at the game.
In a statement given to SPORTbible, he said “In Nov. 2018, static ambulance services were withdrawn by Ambulance Victoria and instead Emergency Physicians were installed at the stadium.
“Emergency Physicians are doctors who have specialised in Emergency Medicine as specialist medical practitioners they are able to provide a higher level of care than a paramedic.
“That change was approved by PFA in 2018 and has been policy in Victoria ever since. In every other state, it remains policy to have static ambulances.”
Adelaide assistant coach Mark Milligan spoke following the game maintaining that the lengthy wait wasn’t concerning as Juande was being well looked after.
In everyone's thoughts this evening ❤️
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) January 29, 2023
Passing on our best wishes to Juande for a speedy recovery from a serious leg injury suffered at AAMI Park this afternoon.#WeAreALeagues pic.twitter.com/QIu1vsBMRD
He said, via Fox Sports: “It’s never nice, we have to make sure that Juande is looked after properly.
“Not concerned (about the delay) because they’re doing (treating the injury) it properly, so that’s the main thing.
“It takes as long as it takes. “We’ll deal with the other players once Juande is looked after in the best possible way.
“Melbourne City and their medical staff have looked after us in the best possible way.
“Football sometimes has to take a back seat.”
Jayden Collins