Worth it | Martina Rosucci’s 2024

559.

The number of days Martina Rosucci went without playing a match.

A count that stopped on the 75th minute of the pre-season friendly against Lyon, on 7 September 2024, after a long period out through injury which we will relive together.

559 days is a long time to even count, let alone live.

Yet since that day, Martina has returned to all official competitions, played as a starter and even scored, against Fiorentina, on 30 September.

It is therefore no surprise that 2024 has been an incredible year for her: as she continues her upwards trend that began in pain and is ending with a smile.

Let’s relive it together with her.

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HOW ARE YOU, MARTINA?

“To answer ‘I'm fine’ is difficult, but I don't just mean physically, because that would be a superficial answer. On the one hand, I have achieved goals I didn't think possible, but I would call myself a very ambitious person, and so I’m never satisfied: if I'm here, at Juve, there's a reason, so I keep living for what will come. I still have a lot of objectives as a player and I continue to work towards achieving them. This attitude sometimes robs you of peace, but it is also the motivation to always have new goals, and new dreams. I am happy about that, because that means I am in my place, in the right place. Of course, with regards to concrete goals, I'm not shy: I want to win, with Juve, with my teammates."

But let's take a step back and rewind to 12 months ago.

“A year ago I couldn't even walk: after the cruciate ligament injury I had another problem that was really difficult to accept. A pubalgia, which one year ago I had very strong pains even just moving: sudden twinges that came like knives out of nowhere. I made a thousand visits to the hospital, and I won't deny that there was a moment when I was even about to throw in the towel. It was a complicated period: on the one hand I was telling myself that after all this suffering I couldn't help but reward myself with a comeback, but on the other hand it all felt so far away. I looked at my teammates on the sidelines and couldn't even imagine what it was like to play. Meanwhile, I wasn't getting better...

MEANWHILE, ON THE PITCH...

“In 2024 we started by winning, as we lifted the Super Cup, which was a very important trophy, especially considering the period we were going through. It was an occasion when we were able to be united as a team, we enjoyed it very much and it was important for us to continue in the tradition that distinguishes us, which is to bring home at least one trophy a year.

A COMPLICATED SEASON & A SUMMER OF REBUILDING

“After the end of a complicated season, we experienced a moment of rebirth in the second half of the year, and I believe that great credit ishould be given to Stefano Braghin, who chose the right people and figures: I'm talking about players, but also staff, a set of choices that were decisive from the beginning. Coach Massimiliano Canzi has grasped our desire to return to winning ways with both hands, which is something that you can see on a daily basis. I believe that every day we choose what we can do, what we can do well, what we can do badly; not only that, but we also decide what kind of people to be, individually, and with each other. From these decisions we learn lessons, which have come in these two most difficult years. It must be said that we too have certainly made mistakes, like everyone else: so it was important to learn from these mistakes, for example when welcoming the new girls to the group. We have many young but also mature teammates, and others who have been able to develop incredibly quickly.

MARTINA ALSO RETURNS TO THE PITCH

“The turning point came thanks to the team of doctors who, with the support of the club, treated me at the Koelliker hospital in Turin. I started taking small steps towards improvement. It was really a matter of small signs, for example doing the same things, but with less pain than the day before; I got to June without having done a single training session with the team, but always working alone, first in the gym and then on the pitch. After being out for a year and a half, my first real training session, with my teammates, was on the American Tour, on 8 August - 08/08 - a number that always comes back to me. The greatest pride I have since that day is the fact that I haven't missed a single training session. Then I played, I came back in the league, Coppa Italia and Champions League, and I even scored, against Fiorentina, in the 88th minute…

A MIRACLE?

“I said in an interview that my comeback is a miracle, and someone, from the people close to me, corrected me, reminding me that it is the result of my determination. I know that in certain moments I looked around and saw no hope: I injured the same knee on three occasions. Sometimes a single injury like that is enough to end a career, after the third one it's easy to say it's over; it's true, however, that in my head that thought never crossed my mind.

MARTINA AND JUVE: A JOURNEY TOGETHER

“I am extremely grateful to the physiotherapists, who never gave up: and even after my return, without their daily help, I wouldn't have been able to train every day. Them and the athletic staff made all the difference, the way they handled me, looking after everything, valuing every little improvement. The arrival of the new staff in the summer was also very helpful: on the one hand I was worried, because they obviously didn't know me, on the other it was an extra spur to leave the old me behind and continue on a new path. Now I feel that I'm getting better and better, and another important step was to play as a starter. Playing is nice, but starting is different, also on an emotional level: it's like finally being at home, with an incredible sense of fulfilment... It's like never having missed a game. Even the renewal of my contract during my injury was a strong signal, for which I was grateful to Juventus and the Director. A sign of gratitude on the one hand, but a clear message on the other: they were waiting for me on the pitch. So were all my teammates, who were the one true, great constant throughout this journey. They knew how to be there for me just by looking at me, when they went to training and I was in therapy: they couldn't tell me anything, maybe they didn't even know what to tell me on the worst days, but they were there. Always. The emotion of seeing them on the pitch when I scored against Fiorentina was immense, because they were the ones who were there, with me, at the worst time: it was almost everyone's victory, not just mine.

ON THE PITCH, A SEASON OF GROWTH

But let's return, at this point 100%, to the pitch: what have Juve, together with Martina, experienced during the second half of 2024?

“We are rebuilding our winning mentality, that feeling that when Juve arrives... Juve arrives. That was something we were losing: there was a period when many teams came here thinking they could ‘get one over on us’, whereas now we are rebuilding our reputation on the pitch and in the league, thanks also to people in the dressing room who make the difference. I'm not necessarily talking about those who play the most: many girls unite the group and are often more enthusiastic than those who play. They show an immense passion for the shirt, and above all shown that Juve is a gift for them. Juve is something that must make you feel lucky every day you arrive at training, every time you play, and it's nice to have rediscovered this feeling. A lot of good, humble girls have arrived, who have put themselves on the line. I feel in them the pride of playing for Juventus: something that probably those of us who have been here longer have also tried to convey. In the group there is positivity, a good energy, which allows you to face even difficult moments, thanks to teamwork and a great comradery, which you don't often find. There are players who in my opinion are key, because they also raise the level of their teammates, training hard. In general we grew, we did very well, we were very effective, solid, and more direct. In my opinion with the qualities we possess, we can still add something more, we can be more clinical, and we can finish the matches more and more satisfied.

THE LESSONS FROM THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

“We are sad to be out of the Champions League, especially after the two-legged win against Paris Saint-Germain, who went to the semi-finals last year, an incredible sporting achievement. Progressing to the group stage in that way, with two great performances, both in the first leg and in the return leg, gave us great confidence and made us feel that we would progress even further, although the opponents were very strong. However in the subsequent games we were not as effective as against PSG. We had some untaken chances, but it would be reductive to talk about that: we did not manage the game well in moments of the matches, and in my opinion that made the difference. We ended up in a very difficult group, but the feeling is that we did not see this great disparity, results aside. However, I think we will treasure this experience, all of us and all the staff: we can do better in everything, and not being satisfied with how it went is a good sign, we are not accepting of the negative result, and we know what we need to improve on, for example we lost too many games by a large margin.

JUVE'S 2025: "I PROMISE IT WILL BE BEAUTIFUL"

“We finish 2024 with a great desire to win, because we finished well and we will start again with the same desire: in our heads there must be only this. Juve wants to return to success, we have important objectives, and we're sorry we're not in the Super Cup at the beginning of January. The coach is also very focused, and he knows that when you play for this shirt, winning is the only thing that counts. It must also be said that keeping up the pace is very difficult, you realise this when you don't succeed. In the first years of our history we always won, and in the end we almost didn't realise it. Then, when something started to go wrong, we realised how no victory is ever easy, nor taken for granted: this feeling accompanies us even now that we are having a good league campaign, and we know that it will not be easy to maintain this pace, because there will be tougher moments, the Poule Scudetto is still to come, which in fact only creates fixtures with direct competitors; and we will have to continue to be effective.

...AND MARTINA'S OWN

“Mine is an incredible story: starting from the fact that I'm from Turin, I'm a Juventus fan and I've been here since day one. Juve is something that makes me put the ‘we’ before the ‘I’. Only thanks to the collective do you win, and when it happens you are happy even individually. Today I do everything I can, thinking also about tomorrow, and for me tomorrow is to represent the Bianconere for as long as possible. This is my eighth season here - eight again... - and if I think about the past, on the one hand it's a lot, but on the other hand, for me, it's always little, because this badge urges us to achieve something every day. We'll see what the future holds: in the meantime, today, I'm happy with what I've done and what I'm doing, and above all to have confidence in myself as a player again. Not everything I achieve and will achieve depends only on me, but I give my all, because I have to go to sleep content at night and wake up content in the morning. There is no doubt about that."