Because of the constant pain
Ex-PSG pro lost his right leg
03/15/2022 12:36 p.m
Bruno Rodriguez plays for Paris Saint-Germain at a time when the club is still a middle-class club. But these days one remembers the former striker again. The reason is bitter: Rodriguez lost a leg as a late consequence of a long career.
Former French striker Bruno Rodriguez has had his right leg amputated. Due to constant pain as a result of his football career, the 49-year-old decided to take the step, said the players’ union UNFP. Rodriguez played 18 of his 234 Ligue 1 games between 1998 and 2000 for then-middle-class club Paris Saint-Germain, scoring six goals.
For the UNFP, Rodriguez is “one of the strikers who shaped our football from the early 1990s to the mid-2000s.” In 1998 he almost led FC Metz to their first championship in the club’s history: Rodriguez scored 13 goals in 31 games and Lens finished second – level on points with the new champions RC Lens.
In addition to Paris and Metz, Rodriguez had also played in Bastia, Ajaccio and Strasbourg in France, while also making brief stints at Rayo Vallecano and Bradford in Spain’s and England’s top divisions. The players’ union wrote in its statement that the pain was the “late effects” of the football career. According to the UNFP, he has now decided to amputate “due to constant suffering”.
End of career at the age of 32
Rodriguez already had major health problems during his career, he had to end his career in 2005 at the age of 32 due to persistent ankle problems. 17 years after the end of his career, the aftermath of his sporting career now made the bitter intervention apparently unavoidable.
His former club Paris Saint-Germain sent a message of support to the ex-player and his family. “The club gives you all their strength and hopes to welcome you to the Parc des Princes as soon as possible.” According to the French newspaper “Le Figaro”, the fans of the capital club will remember Rodriguez above all as the one who scored the decisive goal against rivals Olympique Marseille in 1999 in a 2-1 draw. The balance of power between the coastal club and PSG, which had not yet been upgraded to become an international top club with billions in oil from Qatar, was reversed at the time.