Zenden tells how he injured Xavi with a judo key

Zenden has revealed in an interview in FourFourTwo magazine an unknown episode that he starred in during his stay in Barcelona. The retired Dutch winger spent three courses at the Catalan club, between 1998 and 2001, where he came from PSV Eindhoven. Left-handed and quite fast, the Dutch international was able to play for both profiles to put a good sequence of centers and he also stood out for being quite an outgoing person. Now, after the years, he tells an anecdote that had not come out, an accident that left Xavi out of action and in which he had a lot to do.

The Dutch player is and was already by then an expert judoka, something that came from family. His father had made a career in that sport until a knee injury withdrew him from professional practice. Zenden tells FourFourTwo that one day he joked with Xavi, whom he challenged, it was something he used to do. The mischief cost them dearly. “It went a little wrong that time at Barcelona; I challenged Xavi, who was leaning one hand on a bed. However, the bed had wheels, which made him slip and dislocated one shoulder. He was out for a few weeks! “count now the Dutch international sneers. Zenden has not specified more about the injury that involuntarily caused Xavi or the arm he went in. What is certain is that some time after the Dutchman left Barcelona in 2003, the Spanish midfielder had to undergo surgery on his right shoulder due to repetitive joint dislocations.

Zenden had lived with Judo all his life. “When I was a child, I just had to go down the stairs to find myself in a Judo school (his father set up an academy at home), and I automatically joined the judo classes that were taught there. It was the family business and he still follows it today being, “he explains. Zenden channeled what he learned in judo to help him in soccer. “Judo has given me a lot. It improved me as a footballer: it is a one-on-one discipline, as it often happens on the field, you learn to maintain balance, use your abilities and protect yourself in the fall. For example, I never suffered any injury when falling to the ground, “he says.