Doctor Ripoll: "Messi would be Federer, Cristiano is Nadal"

Located among the 5 best doctors in our country and named by Forbes magazine among the 50 best in the world, Doctor Ripoll is already considered a golden ball of sports medicine. Therefore, it is not surprising that the most illustrious characters on the pitch have passed through his hands. More than 250 professional footballers and athletes, as well as prestigious clubs such as Atlético de Bilbao, Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid or Coruña.

What distinguishes Messi and Cristiano? (…) Messi would be Federer, Cristiano is Nadal.

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Even so, from his experience, Ripoll knows that a team depends on its squad and the rotation there is so as not to go with the same eleven players to all competitions. That is why he considers that the first factor to prevent injuries is in the making of a template. Despite everything, there are injuries that any self-respecting athlete must fear.

What is the worst injury for a footballer?

Injury of the external lateral ligament in the knee. When a total tear occurs, it is the most serious injury in a footballer because it is also associated with other injuries inside the knee. The black beast of orthopedic surgeons who operate on athletes is the external lateral, not the crusader against what is commonly believed, which is quite well resolved today.

Doctor Ripoll gives his opinion about the World Cup

Doctor Ripoll knows footballers well, their physical and mental capacities. That makes him have a much more technical vision of this World Cup. He acknowledges that most of the players come to this competition exhausted, but that they still have a lot of war to fight.

How do the players get to the World Cup?

A .: Many arrive exhausted, at the limit of their possibilities, also in the psychological aspect, because in the World Cup there is hardly time to do special physical preparation. They arrive with what they have worked in the year and in each site they have done it in a way. All footballers from all countries put on the national jersey and transform. They acquire a plus of effectiveness, of competitiveness by the mere fact of competing for their country. Regardless of the economic issues (...), they get involved in the competition, and lose all notion of time, space, money, they are playing a football match, which is what they have been doing genetically since they were practically ten years old .

Doctor Ripoll and the Spanish National Team

Ripoll knows that the National Team comes to the World Cup tired, that is why rest is highlighted as part of an invisible and very necessary training for footballers, especially at this stage of the competition. During the previous months the players are fit and with full faculties, but at this point, healthy eating, psychological balance and rest are the axes so that any athlete can go to the end in the best possible situation. For this reason, he recommends not turning sport into a neurotizing element, much less becoming exhausted. A good athlete must know where to stop. Still, he considers that La Roja has all the conditions to position itself well in this competition.

And speaking of the World Cup, how do you see the Spanish National Team for this championship?

At a medical level, 100%. I see a National Team that is in top shape with physical preparation and extraordinary physical shape and it is a group that is very united, but psychologically it has had to face a kind of earthquake with the change of the one who has been its leader throughout the preparation of the competition towards the World Cup. This is the problem that the National Team has to worry about and that a person as expert as Fernando Hierro has to deal with. This is a problem because the players have to remake themselves and regroup around the directives of a coach, who has come, let's say, in a traumatic way.

Which players do you consider to be the fittest and most level at the moment? Your team 10.

Understanding all the parameters to take into account physically, the number 1 would be Cristiano Ronaldo, since he is a person who at 33 years old holds for me the throne of a well-prepared, careful, professional athlete, helped by the doctors of the Madrid from this stage and from the previous stages to stay motivated (…) Then there are other players who are extraordinary, who are not seen as, for example, Casemiro or Busquets. Sergio Ramos is also a physical marvel taking into account all the parameters of age, circumstance, number of games he plays, etc.

Who will win the World Cup?

Spain is among those who can win the World Cup. We are in that deceptive phase that begins the World Cup and the teams have not yet shown their true potential (...) I believe that two modest teams will reach the semifinals, because people today put a lot of effort and interest and are very well prepared physically. And then, two of the usual teams will arrive: France, Spain or Portugal and it will be one of them that will finally win in the World Cup because when you compete in the final of a World Cup you have to have experience in how it is managed. It is very difficult to manage the 90 minutes of play in a final, and the footballers who have experience are the ones who finally take the lead.

There are several first division clubs that have tempted Doctor Ripoll to enlist in their ranks to care for and heal their footballers, but he prefers to stay where he is, with his team, traveling every week to attend to his patients throughout the Spanish geography and receive the sick in their waiting room full of shirts signed by those players who have passed through their hands. Perhaps this is his best trophy, the one that makes him feel good every day knowing that he works for and to heal not only the greatest athletes in the world, but also anyone who needs him. It is his way of putting his feet on the ground, putting his title of excellence on the shelf and putting on his white coat to become Doctor Ripoll, the doctor of the stars… And that of ordinary citizens.