Artur overcomes injury challenges
Artur has watched the opening sequence from Crew SC’s game on April 22 against the New York Red Bulls several times.
Less than 40 seconds into a 2-0 Crew loss, Artur and New York’s Kemar Lawrence went for a ball near the corner. Artur lost his balance and landed awkwardly on his left arm, suffering a broken left wrist. The injury came at an unfortunate time for the 21-year-old Brazilian midfielder, who finally thought he had found his rhythm after joining the Crew on loan from Sao Paulo FC just before the season.
Artur has learned plenty in his first full professional season, including the attimes difficult reality that each season comes with its ebbs and flows. When healthy, he has shown his ability as a game-changing midfielder whose ability to cover ground is among the best in Major 7:30 p.m. Saturday Ch. 53, Spectrum Sports WWCD-FM (102.5), WVKO-FM (103.1, in Spanish)
League Soccer.
He hopes to continue to flash those attributes in the final four games of the regular season.
But Artur also has experienced the helplessness that comes with being injured in a foreign country.
“I was afraid because I didn’t know what they were going to do with me,” Artur said of having surgery on his wrist, which caused him to miss the next three games.
Artur has learned English rapidly — he now gives complete interviews in English without the help of a translator — but at the time of the injury, he was still learning. Fortunately, one of the nurses who helped treat Artur at a Newark, New Jersey, hospital spoke Portuguese.
“She was Brazilian,” Artur said. “She helped me a lot.”
Artur wasn’t able to communicate with his brothers and father, who watched the play live online, until the following day. Coach Gregg Berhalter experienced something similar during his playing days in the Netherlands and said it was a moment for the club to build trust with Artur.
“I remember that feeling of being in a foreign country, you’re badly injured, you can’t play the sport that you’re brought here to play and it’s a strange feeling,” Berhalter said. “I think as people reached out to me and brought me into things, it made me feel part of something. And that’s what we tried to do with Artur.”
A heavy club over Artur’s left wrist made balance difficult and might have contributed to a nagging left hamstring injury that has cost him a few games. He returned to the field off the bench on Saturday in a 2-2 tie at the Vancouver Whitecaps after missing four straight games. He likely will play at least some over the last four games.
With the Red Bulls visiting Mapfre Stadium on Saturday, all that remains from Artur’s broken wrist is a light wrap that he uses for comfort during practices and games.
His wrist strength has slowly returned. So has his confidence on the ball.
“In my first year, it’s good to have challenges and there have been challenges for me,” Artur said. “I think it’s good for everything. Some things have been hard, but it will make me stronger.”