The attacker for the New York Red Bulls was added to the final pool of 26 after being called up late for the provisional Euro 2024 team.
The former forward for the Celtics, Inter Miami, and St. Mirren said that his motivation came from his “fear” of not fully recovering from the surgery in September.
“I started to pick up a lot of hip strains, so we knew surgery was in the background, but I wanted to give everything I could to avoid it,” the 27-year-old explained.
I may have hurt myself three, four, or even five more times in total, and each time the damage worsened until it finally.
“After the procedure, my hip was virtually entirely reshaped. It was pretty severe.
“My discomfort was nearly completely gone after the operation, and then it was just a matter of healing and getting better.
“They estimated that I had an 80–85% chance of playing again at full strength, and that my chances of performing at my previous level would be only 20–25%.”
“Maybe that fear sort of drove me on in the rehab process to make sure that I didn’t skip any corners and I give myself the best chance.”
“It’s quite surreal to think, ‘Oh, now I’m back playing and I’m performing at a good level,'” he continued.
