Footballer worst nightmare: Ligament tear

Knee anatomy, front view

Knee bones are connected to other bones by ligament. There are four primary ligaments build in knee.All of these elements act as rubber band to hold the bones together and keep knee stability.


Collateral Ligaments

These are found on the sides of your knee. The medial collateral ligament is on the inside and the lateral collateral ligament is on the outside. They control the sideways motion of your knee and brace it against unusual movement.


Cruciate Ligaments

These are found inside your knee joint. They cross each other to form an "X" with the anterior cruciate ligament in front and the posterior cruciate ligament in back. The cruciate ligaments control the back and forth motion of your knee.

The anterior cruciate ligament runs diagonally in the middle of the knee. It prevents the tibia from sliding out in front of the femur, as well as provides rotational stability to the knee.

Cause of injury in football

• Sharp turning

Players 's foot is positioned firmly on the ground followed by the leg (and body for that matter) turning one direction or the other. In this position, the body weight is totally supported by standing leg.Slight contact on this leg could done serious damage to the ligament.

• Straight knee landing

This results from improper landing after challenge for the ball in the air.During landing, knee's ligament need to support large force , function of body mass and acceleration.

• One-step-stop landing with the knee hyperextended 

This situation comes when the leg abruptly stops while in an over-straightened position.Example: Baseball player sliding into a base with the knee hyperextended with additional force upon hyperextension.

• Pivoting and sudden deceleration 

resulting from a combination of rapid slowing down and a plant and twist of the foot placing extreme rotation at the knee. Example: Football or soccer player quickly slowing down followed by a quick turn in direction.


Ronaldo is the famous "victim" of acl tear injury that push him to retired from professional football. He tears his knee's ligament three times during spell at Inter Milan (1997-2002) and AC Milan (2007-2008).

"About 40% of all individuals experience a "popping" sensation at the time of the injury, which is actually the tearing of the ligament tissue. At least half of all anterior ligament tears also cause injury to one of the menisci of the joint, which may also produce a tearing sensation"