United States international and Werder Bremen striker, Aron Johannsson, finally returned to the field in a match on Wednesday. In his clubs preseason friendly against a Regionalliga club named SV Meppen 1912, the Icelandic-American came on as a substitute.
62' // He's back! Great to have you on the pitch again, @aronjo20! // 0-0 #svmsvw
— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) August 10, 2016
Johannsson has been out action for nearly 10 months now with a nerve issue in his hip. This return signifies that he’s finally close to being 100 percent healthy. He had this to say about his return:
It's been a very difficult time but all the hard work was worth it for this moment! Great to be back on the pitch! pic.twitter.com/8UB5VbaHvH
— Aron Jóhannsson (@aronjo20) August 10, 2016
With such a mysterious injury as nerve damage, the timetable for ArJo’s recovery was never set in stone. Hopefully this is a big step to him regaining full fitness and possibly getting back on the field in a competitive match.
While we hesitate to lift our optimism levels too much, there’s still just under a month remaining until World Cup qualifying resumes. Perhaps with a little luck, he’ll be ready make his national team return by then. But, that’s being extremely optimistic. We’ll be following his progress as the season begins in a few weeks.