Huracan's Toranzo fears for future after toe surgery

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentine midfielder Patricio Toranzo fears his football career is under threat after he had surgery on four toes of his left foot following his team Huracan's bus crash in Venezuela. The Huracan team and staff were travelling by coach from Caracas to the capital’s international airport on Wednesday when the vehicle’s brakes failed on a downhill slope and it crashed onto its side injuring several passengers. Huracan were in Venezuela for a South American Copa Libertadores qualifying match on Tuesday. They lost 2-1 to Caracas FC, but drew the tie 2-2 on aggregate and went through on the away goals rule. Toranzo was one of three people involved in the accident, who remained in hospital in Venezuela with the rest of the party returning to Buenos Aires. His wife Tamara Alves said on Thursday that he had told her on the telephone he was concerned about his future as a player. “Fortunately he sounded quite well and all he asks is whether he’s going to be able to carry on playing football,” Alves told Argentine radio station La Red. “He had minor surgery on a small part of his toes... Once he’s back in Argentina he’ll go straight to a clinic for (toe) reconstruction with doctors who know him.” Team doctor Fernando Locaso denied media reports that Toranzo had had the toes amputated and said it was a minor injury requiring about four weeks' recovery. “He should be able to continue to play given that the most important toe is the big toe and that one’s all right,” Locaso told Radio 10 of Buenos Aires. The 33-year-old Toranzo is Huracan’s most experienced player. He won two Argentina caps under former national team coach Diego Maradona in 2010, played for Shanghai Shenhua in 2013 and helped Huracan win the Copa Argentina knockout competition in 2014. (Reporting by Luis Ampuero; Writing by Rex Gowar; editing by Toby Davis)