Özkan Yildirim has not been able to train with Werder Bremen for nearly three weeks. Due to problems with his cervical spine, ‘Ötzi' is not allowed to undertake in tackles or headers. But the lively dribbler is already going through...
Özkan Yildirim has not been able to train with Werder Bremen for nearly three weeks. Due to problems with his cervical spine, ‘Ötzi' is not allowed to undertake in tackles or headers. But the lively dribbler is already going through...
Özkan Yildirim has not been able to train with Werder Bremen for nearly three weeks. Due to problems with his cervical spine, ‘Ötzi' is not allowed to undertake in tackles or headers. But the lively dribbler is already going through running sessions and nearing a comeback.
Yildirim started his third season as a professional better than ever before. The Werder talent has worn the Green-Whites kit since his youth day and earned appearances in the season opener in Braunschweig and against Augsburg. The third match day came the news that Yildirim would be in the starting line-up against Dortmund - an absolute highlight in his young career. After more playing time in Gladbach, ‘Ötzi' travelled with the German U21 national team to Torshavn, where he had an unlucky tackle against the Faroe Islands in his second U21 cap. He played through the match but complained about pain in his spine afterwards.
The midfielder missed his chance for a third cap and training was out of the question upon his return to Bremen. "Of course I'm a little aggravated but I have to remain patient. I had never been so close. I even played from the start in Dortmund. But I will also get my chances in the future. I am not worried about that," said Yildirim.
He is now back to individual workouts, getting daily treatment from Werder's physiotherapists and even testing occasionally the greens of the training grounds. "I still have a restriction of movement. And there's still a little bit of pain there. It's getting better. Whenever I am completely pain-free, I can get back right into team training. That is the good thing," said Yildirim. But the 20-year-old cannot give an exact prognosis when that might happen. "My wish is that I can return to training after the Stuttgart match. I don't know if that's doable," said ‘Ötzi'. "I do not want to miss any more games."
