Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 8y

Keylor Navas says he played through pain for Real Madrid

Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas has admitted to playing through a lot of pain during the 2015-16 season and often needing injections to get him through games.

Navas had an outstanding campaign for Madrid, being one of their standout players over the course of a topsy-turvy year which ended with Zinedine Zidane's side lifting the Champions League trophy.

Once the club season ended, Navas underwent surgery to deal with a long-term tendonitis problem in his heel, meaning he missed out on Costa Rica's participation in the summer's Copa America Centenario in the United States.

Speaking to Marca, the ex-Levante and Albacete shot-stopper said he had "got used to" playing through pain to keep going during the club season with Madrid.

"In the end I got used to the pain, and it seemed it was not so much," Navas said. "I was controlling it, although I played with a lot of pain. When we did the tests you could see the decision [to operate before the Copa America] was the best for my health. It was a difficult year, I got used to the pain, although it is the not the recommended thing to do. Once the season was over, the problem had to be stopped at the root."

Navas said he had played many games with pain-killing injections, and was rested from time to time, as seen with back-up Kiko Casilla coming in for home matches against Eibar and Valencia during the last weeks of the season.

"Many times I had to take treatment," he said. "I had games with a lot of pain, but I made a big effort. You always want to play, although when I did not play it was because I was honest and said I could not. There were moments in which I needed a rest to be able to be stronger for the following game."

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