Paulo Dybala has gone into detail as to how Jose Mourinho handled his injury and subsequent recovery at Roma back in November, just a few short weeks before the beginning of Argentina’s triumphant World Cup campaign.
La Joya recently took part in a conversation with Llave a la Eternidad, a YouTube series interviewing the members of Argentina’s World Cup winning squad, during which he touched on a number of topics, including his relationship with the Special One.
Dybala had picked up a freak injury to his hamstring while taking a penalty against Lecce in October last year, ruling him out of action for a number of weeks with the World Cup just around the corner.
“At the beginning the severity was not clear,” Dybala said. “When I did the tests and the doctors told me the extent of the injury, it became more clear to me and then my world came crashing down.
“It was a tough moment. But the doctor told me that the injury was touch-and-go, and that’s when I realised that I still had a chance. I told myself that I had to work calmly, physically and mentally. The doctors helped me a lot and the results slowly came in.”
Thankfully, Dybala did eventually recover in time for the World Cup, coming off the bench against Torino in the final game before the break in domestic action for the World Cup.
“Then came the week of the match against Torino. I felt good, I was already training with the team and so I said to Mourinho: ‘You have to let me in, you have to let me in’. ‘Yes, I understand that you want to play,’ was his response.
“For me it all depended on that match, they had to see that I was fine. The list of players called up was released a few days before Roma-Torino.
“Mourinho asked me how long I wanted to play and I replied “20-30 minutes”. We were losing and he still let me play 30 minutes. I played and I felt good.”
Despite trailing by a goal at the time of Dybala’s substitution, the Argentine made a substantial impact on the game, rattling a thunderous strike off the crossbar, before Nemanja Matic tucked home the rebound to rescue a point for the Giallorossi.
While he was not used in the build-up to the final in Qatar, Dybala was brought on in the final minute against France, before stepping up and converting Argentina’s second penalty of the shootout.