Yasser Corona’s future still uncertain after neck injury

Earlier today, a report came out from an online publication saying that Xolos defender Yasser Corona would retire from professional soccer. This set off quite the firestorm, and even Xolos coach Miguel Herrera weighed in on the fray before Xolos released a statement denying the report.

Corona suffered a severe injury on January 31 in a Copa MX match against Correcaminos UAT. Corona had surgery to install a titanium plate into his sixth and seventh cervical vertabrae, and was released from the hospital shortly thereafter. Since then, he has been rehabilitating at his home, and as it said in today’s press release from the club:

“It is difficult to make a diagnosis at this point in time. Surgeries of this type need at least six weeks of recovery to analyze how the surgery has affected the player and if any limitations will exist. The surgery was a success. Corona goes through daily rehab sessions with specialists at his side. Corona is under the watchful supervision of the neurosurgeon and is evaluated each week so that no detail is missed. A special evaluation takes place three weeks after the surgery to determine the player’s status.”

Three weeks after the injury is February 21, while the six week benchmark to be able to begin the analysis will be March 14. By either measure, it’s still too early to definitively tell whether or not Corona will play professionally again.

For his part, Corona issued the following statement:

“I want to express my gratitude for all the care everyone has given me these few weeks after this injury. I am in the rehabilitation process under the great care this institution, teammates, coaches, family and friends have given me. I appreciate your worries and we are working hard towards a complete recovery that we all want.”

We certainly hope that Corona will make a full recovery, and continue to wish him, his family, and his Xolos teammates all the best.