Jordy Clasie took a risk in the rehabilitation of his calf injury to be able to play in the cup final of AZ against Go Ahead Eagles. But the mission failed and the midfielder was even out longer due to a setback.
Clasie made his return for AZ on Thursday evening in the match against sc Heerenveen (4-1 victory) in the semi-finals of the play-offs. The 33-year-old midfielder played for the first time since the match against Ajax on March 16. After that he was sidelined with a calf injury.
Clasie did everything he could to participate in the cup final on April 21. But a few days before the final battle it turned out that he had not won the race against the clock.
In the weeks before, Clasie says he took a risk to recover from his injury as quickly as possible. “I may have gone too fast in my rehabilitation,” Clasie said Thursday evening in the mixed zone. “Normally this injury takes eight weeks. But after three weeks I was already doing quite a bit again.”
For a while it paid off. Clasie was on schedule for some time to reach the cup final. “I really had the feeling that it would work. It felt good during training with the physio. And I also had that feeling during the individual training sessions on the field.”
“But just before we wanted to make a plan for how I could resume group training, my calf muscle said ‘pang’ again. Then it was clear that it was not going to work. I looked for the limit of what a body and muscles can handle. My body has indicated that it could not.”
‘Gambled and Lost’
Clasie thinks he has been out for “four to five weeks” longer because he took a risk with his injury. Nevertheless, he does not regret it. “I took the risk with my full mind. I wanted to play that cup final so badly. Unfortunately, we gambled and lost.”
Clasie saw from the stands in De Kuip that his team lost to Go Ahead Eagles after penalties. “That was painful for the entire club, including for me. Also because we missed a ticket for the group stage of the Europa League.”
The midfielder hopes to qualify for European football with AZ on Sunday. In the final of the play-offs against FC Twente, a ticket for the second qualifying round of the Conference League is at stake.
The question is how big the impact of Clasie can be in that match. “I notice that I still lack rhythm,” Clasie said. “I played for about twenty minutes tonight (Thursday, ed.), but it was difficult. Fortunately, I no longer suffer from the injury.”