You often hear players returning from international duty with a broken leg, torn ankle ligaments, a wrist problem, hamstring woes….. Hell, you even have players not return from international duty at all or returning late. But how many times do you get to hear a report stating that a player came back from an international competition with malaria?
Well, you have heard that now. Reading’s Ivory Coast international Emerse Fae has been discovered to have returned from the African Cup of Nations in Ghana with malaria. The club’s physio Jon Fearn says:
It appears that Emerse picked up malaria when he was in Ghana for the Africa Cup of Nations and it lay dormant for a couple of weeks before coming out over the weekend.
He received prompt treatment and is now under medication. He’s recovering well at home and shouldn’t be out for too long.
Fae though will be available soon and that’s the good news for Reading manager Steve Coppell who is desperate to have all his soldiers available as the race to finish above the bottom three in the Premiership intensifies.