EINDHOVEN, Netherlands -- Young midfielder Richy Ledezma had just completed his first full contact session in nearly a year. It was with the Under-19s; the 21-year-old was smiling, his teeth chattering in the cold and rain on the balcony of PSV Eindhoven's training centre as he talked it through.
One of the youngsters had given him a kick, the bandage visible about 10 centimetres below the 11-month-old scar on his right knee. It needed patching up, but the throbbing from his shin was as much affirmation as it was pain.
"This has been a good day," Ledezma says.