Time is up until the final five minutes of the championship match with both teams tied 1-1. Neither team wants to give up pushing their bodies to the limit risking everything for that goal that would lead them to victory. However, one wrong move or one shot can mean more than just a game or a season; it can mean the end of a career. A career that can end with a pop followed by sharp, stabbing pain and swelling. It indicates an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which is a major component of the knee. An ACL injury, however, does not end an athlete's career; this decision was shaped by the long road to recovery, the criticism the injured athlete received, as well as the post-traumatic symptoms that all athletes experience after a devastating injury. Before the 21st century, complete knee recovery to running and jumping was rare. At that time surgeons were on the verge of discovering the best techniques and the autografts that worked best. Thus, in that century of experimental surgeries, many anterior cruciate ligament replacements failed. They initially insinuated a successful anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery. However, returning to his beloved sport, the athlete witnessed the unexpected failure of the surgery. Unfortunately, technology and surgical techniques were not as advanced as those of the 21st century and so the pain-ridden athlete had to endure one painful surgery after another until he lost every last glimmer of faith. The result was an early and reluctant retirement brought on by what became known as the injury feared by athletes throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. However, an ACL injury is still recognized as an injury feared by an athlete. Furthermore, not because it is career-ending, but because it pushes athletes down… mid-career… not because recovery is not possible, but because the journey to recovery is tedious and uncertain. . Boring due to the rehabilitation and physical therapy before and after surgery as well as the excruciating pain endured during the process. In addition, the tedious journey is uncertain because in addition to the long road there are many symptoms and physiological factors that affect the athlete's recovery. Symptoms and factors such as depression, anger, fear, stress, criticism, low self-esteem. loss of identity and lack of support. No matter the challenge, the athlete must also make it to the end of the journey. The road to recovery is not easy but they have players like Alessandro Del Piero, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Nemanja Vidic and many others as examples. And as Winston Churchill once said, “never give up something you can't go a day without thinking about.