FAZ said, “Nali suffered laxity in the Medial Collateral Ligament and a complete tear of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL).”
The ACL is one of two ligaments that cross in the middle of the knee. It connects the thighbone to the shinbone and stabilizes the knee joint by preventing forward-and-backward motion.
Due to the injury, the 25-year-old was ruled out of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in July. She has been in New Zealand ever since under the care of the Zambian government’s embassy there.
On Wednesday, the shot-stopper confirmed through her Facebook page that she had undergone successful surgery.
“This is to inform the people of Zambia and everyone around the world about my successful knee surgery in Christchurch, New Zealand, on August 16, 2023,” she wrote.
How long will Nali take to recover?
Nali will most likely not be able to play football for at least the next six months.
According to Dr. Eric McCarty, a UCHealth orthopedic surgeon at the CU Sports Medicine and Performance Center in Boulder, USA, recovery from an ACL tear “can take nine or 10 months” after undergoing surgery.
“Even then, after you’ve done great therapy and have come back to sports, it can sometimes take another year before you feel normal again,” McCarty was quoted as saying by UCHealth Today.
“Although some exceptional athletes can return to sports in six months, a more realistic scenario after an ACL tear is a recovery time of at least eight to nine months.”
This means Nali will miss the 2024 Paris Olympics qualifiers. Zambia will play Mali on October 23rd and 31st, 2023, to kick-start their Olympic campaign.
Her penalty heroics in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Quarter-Final helped Zambia qualify for the World Cup. She scored the winning penalty and made a crucial save in that match.
Nali has previously featured at the 2018 and 2022 Africa Cup finals after graduating from the U-17. She is also an Olympian following her participation at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
