'Psychologically it was tough.I had to trust my body again'

Liverpool's Joe Gomez is back on England duty for the first time since a knee injury that kept him out for nine months

- David Hytner

From the outside looking in, to borrow the words that Joe Gomez uses, nobody would have realised. When the Liverpool defender stepped on to England's main training pitch at St George's Park on Tuesday, it was his first involvement with the squad since November 2020. Everybody knew that and recognised it was a special moment.

What they did not realise, as a top footballer went through a fairly routine session, was what was bubbling on the inside. For Gomez, it was a return to the scene of his most traumatic episode, when an innocuous movement had life-changing consequences.

Gomez is out the other side, starring for Liverpool in a variety of positions, pushing to bring the curtain down on the Jürgen Klopp era in style. His delight at his England recall for the Wembley friendlies against Brazil and Belgium is pronounced. But the words tumble out with particular force when he goes back to the fateful day, that one action, which has given him perspective; a cause, too. He has been desperate to "close the chapter," as he puts it. Only now has he been able to do so.

"It was the same pitch," the 26-year-old says. "We were doing an 11 v 11 when I got the injury. 

It was a patella tendon rupture. I was by myself. I went to play a pass, I planted my foot and then it ruptured. It was quite gruesome. My kneecap was halfway up my leg. A lot of it is a blur because of the pain.