Saturday, September 22, 2007

Lopez: Tougher Than Wambach?

Stephanie Lopez got a boot (or maybe an elbow?) to the head from England’s Jill Scott, but for all those friends and family back in Sacramento and Portland, she’s ok. The team’s crack medical staff stapled (yes, stapled) her up quickly on the bench and she wasn’t even out of the match for two minutes. Excellent work by team doctor Scott Powell and athletic trainers Gigi Garcia and Michele Gould. Just so you know, it was not a Red Swingline that they used to patch up Lopez, it was the medical sort used in emergency rooms. Lopez said she could feel the crunching of the staples going into her head. Ugh. Can you imagine that sound? We hope not. Abby Wambach, who got 11 stitches after the North Korea game for a much deeper gash, expressed admiration for the defender’s grit as they are now a part of the head wound club at the Women’s World Cup. Lopez, who was sent off the field by the referee momentarily later in the game to have blood wiped off her head, got the staples taken out after the game and had three stitches put in. Lopez was quick to give credit to Lindsay Tarpley for helping her endure the head stapling, holding Lopez’s hand on the bench and reassuring her through the…ker-chunk, ker-chunk, ker-chunk, ker-chunk, ker-chunk.

8 comments:

Corey's corner said...

Man this is why i love this team..players like abby and lopez. They are so tough and play their hearts out every game. Good Luck on Thursday and Keep making us proud!!

Corey

Unknown said...

The British journalists are all up about the supposed Wambach elbow incident, but I wonder if they glazed over this...

gotr0 said...

Wow didn't even know she had staples in during the game. Excellent game, so much fun!!! Good luck in Shanghai!!! Next time come to Beijing!!

Impedient said...

Ewwwouchhh! That has got to be really painful, having the staples going into the head but yea, I really have to salute Lopez for being so brave!

Btw, the "ker-chunk ker-chunk" sound in the post got my hair standing!! Yea I could also feel the pain even though I'm not Lopez!

Unknown said...

Two words I don't wanna hear/see in one sentence: stapler and head!
Thanks for the sound effects;)
BTW: Thank you for the great job you're doing on this blog!

Daeta said...

Staples - ouch! Sends shivers down my spine! I wonder which hurt worse, putting them in or taking them out? Should we have a special 'war-wound' badge or medal for those who sustain these kind of injuries during the World Cup? I think so. :)

Anonymous said...

It was a cleat to the head for sure, and it looked NASTY from the replay.

julia said...

one word. Ow! I broken my nose playing soccer but STAPLES! By the way that was not an elbow, it was more like she walked into her elbow than Abby elbowed her