Last Saturday, Freddy Llerena finally made it back to the starting lineup.
Forget that he only played the first 30 minutes of Men's Soccer's 4-2 loss at Wake Forest. Forget that it was a spring game. And forget that, by his own accounts, he was a bit rusty.
For the first time since compounding both bones in his lower right leg, Llerena was on the field, more or less completely healed from his injury.
"It felt fine, except I was a little lost where I was playing," Llerena said of playing right wing/forward in a 4-3-3. "It's probably the first time I've ever played anything like that."
He almost didn't travel. AU head coach Todd West made every player run two miles in under 12 minutes in order to go.
Llerena qualified - barely - in his third attempt, running an 11:54.
"After my second time was 13:30," Llerena said, "I thought, 'There's no way I am going to make this.' The next time I ran it, I didn't worry about the time. But once the laps kept coming in, and I was on pace, I thought, 'Maybe I can do it.'"
So Llerena started for the first time in a year. That start, on March 25, 2003, against MLS side D.C. United, ended with Llerena suffering the most infamous injury in AU history. It was an injury that, despite official quotes from trainers, made most people doubt he'd play again.
About 10 minutes in, United was tied with AU 1-1. Shortly after AU's goal, Llerena tried to settle a ball on the right side of midfield, in front of the AU bench. United midfielder and former Bulgarian World Cup legend Hristo Stoitchkov challenged Llerena recklessly and late.
"I'll never forget the sounds," said Steve Goff, who covers D.C. United and other soccer for The Washington Post. "The first being the contact, and the second being Llerena screaming. You knew when you heard it, something terrible had happened."
Llerena sprawled on the grass, holding his right leg up in agony, where everyone could see how both bones had snapped and pierced the skin. Stoitchkov was ejected, and stormed off the field as quickly as AU's training staff ran on. Then some, like United rookie forward Alecko Eskandarian, fell ill on the sideline. Others stood or paced in silence.
"It was just so heartbreaking," said United midfielder Ben Olsen, who sometimes volunteers as an assistant coach for AU. "To hear it break, to see that kid in pain, it was a bad scene."
Several minutes later, paramedics took Llerena. AU head coach Todd West and then United coach Ray Hudson decided to postpone the match.
The story exploded, even showing up in Sports Illustrated. It grew because of Stoitchkov's legendary stature, acquired playing club soccer with F.C. Barcelona in Spain and national soccer with Bulgaria, said some. That Llerena, an amateur, was hurt by a famous professional who not only played but also held an assistant coaching position, made the story especially startling, said others.
But the injury hit Llerena very close to home. AU assistant coach Gary Kingsley had his career ended on a similar injury. Llerena's father, while trying to make it professionally in Ecuador, never fully recovered after suffering a meniscus tear.
"When it happened, Freddy's first question was, 'are they going to have to amputate my leg," West said. "Some things behind the scenes people didn't know about. He sees Gary limping down to practice every day, knowing if things hadn't gone well, that could be him."
Llerena said, "Soon after it happened, I asked so many questions. With [Stoitchkov] being such a figure, it made it maybe even worse."
Surgeons installed a metal rod into Llerena's leg, and Llerena was walking as soon as possible, little more than a week after. But he wouldn't play until much later
AU recovered and had a relatively successful spring season, but struggled the following fall, failing to even make the Patriot League Tournament, let alone the NCAAs.
Meanwhile, United did little to discipline Stoitchkov, handing the responsibility to the MLS disciplinary committee, who suspended Stoitchkov for two games and fined him $2,000.
In their decision, MLS looked at videotape. Goff and West also saw the video.
"It was enlightening," Goff said of watching the film. "It wasn't as bad as I initially thought, but it didn't free Stoitchkov from blame. In an exhibition game, playing college kids, with the ball at midfield, you've got to wonder what he was thinking."
West said, "When you saw the tape of what happened ... you can see everybody, [United players] Ben Olsen, Santino Quaranta, Marco Etcheverry, all going 'oh my god.' Before legal experts got involved, the comments about the incident were drastically different than what came a few days later."
United, who trains at AU occasionally, and who had what Goff considered a strong relationship with AU, took little responsibility, Llerena said. Stoitchkov did even less, he added.
"I really feel like the team treated this like something almost with no importance," Llerena said. "All I received from [Stoitchkov] was a phone call while I was drugged up at the hospital, and couldn't understand what was happening."
That summer, Llerena saw Stoitchkov again while United was practicing in Germantown, Md., near Llerena's home.
"I just said, 'maybe I'll see what he had to say,'" Llerena recalled. "Even that day ... he didn't say sorry, he didn't recognize me. He told me what to do for rehab, I was thinking, 'You wouldn't have to tell me anything about rehab if you hadn't done it in the first place.'"
Llerena returned in the fall, with limited success. He played mostly as a late-game sub, in the second half of the season, and struggled both physically and mentally.
"He was eligible, but we didn't have Freddy," West said. "He'd be the first to tell you that."
Llerena said, "I always felt I tried my best, but was no where near where I should have been. Sometimes I regret it, but most of the time I'm happy I came back then. Not playing at all and seeing everyone else play, I would've just gone nuts."
Surgeons removed the rod over winter break, and Llerena said he immediately felt much better. Concluding the bone had completely rehealed, Doctors cleared Llerena for all action in practice and games in early March.
Now Llerena just wants the chance to prove he is fit to coaches and players, something he knows won't be easy.
"This incident still makes me doubt myself sometimes," Llerena said. "Before the incident, I felt like every time I practiced or played, things went up. Now, I don't know if I am back to that point I was at before."
Llerena still wants to play professionally. But he now says he has to "work a little harder than everybody else." In the meantime, he's happy to fight for a spot in AU's starting 11. And AU is happy to let him.
"I almost want t slow him down," West said. "But he's cleared. I've asked him if he's alright."
"He loves soccer more than a lot of guys I know, even professionally," Olsen said. "It's painful to see a kid go through a thing like this. But I know Freddy is a strong kid. I expect him to be back out there. I know the team missed a healthy Freddy last year"
