Roma forward Nicolò Zaniolo broke into tears after scoring against Trabzonspor in the UEFA Conference League. ‘It seemed like the end of the world, but I’m still here’.
The Italy international, who has recovered from a second ACL rupture, scored his first goal in 400 days and rejoiced in tears.
Roma qualified for the group stage of the Europa Conference League with a 3-0 win over the Turkish side, advancing with a 5-1 win on aggregate.
Conference League: Roma qualify for group stage as Zaniolo celebrates goal with tears of joy
Zaniolo was first injured in a match against Juventus in Serie A and was out from January until the end of the season in 2019-20.
He then returned at the start of last campaign, but suffered another ACL injury on international duty, this time in the other knee.
The young attackers way back have been long and the relief after scoring his first goal in a competitive game was visible.
“Yeah, it seemed like the end of the world,” Zaniolo wrote on Instagram. “But I’m still here! Thank you all! I’m back.”