Selangor striker Rufino Segovia can’t wait to get back to playing again after being sidelined for nine months with an Achilles tendon injury.
And when he does return to action in the Super League next season, he intends to honour the memory of his father Rufino Segovia Fernandez, who died on Sept 9.
“I lost my father three months ago. So, for the coming season, I hope to score lots of goals and become the best player again for my father,” he said, adding that his late father had undergone heart surgery a few years back.
Spaniard Segovia admitted that his father was initially not thrilled to learn of his passion for football, but came around when people started talking about his performances.
“It was when I signed for a big club, Rayo Vallecano, in 2004 that he began to enjoy football,” said the 34-year-old Madrid-born.
“He couldn’t travel much to my games after his heart surgery but he would always check for news on my performance with Selangor and would push me to continue to improve.
“Even if I had scored three goals or something, he’ll still insist that I can do better.”
Segovia, who won the 2018 Super League Golden Boot with 19 goals as well as the National Football Awards’ Best Foreign Player, injured his Achilles just five matches into the 2019 season.
The former Atletico Madrid B striker admitted to enduring a hellish nine-month recovery period all alone as his family was back in Madrid.
Now that he has recovered, he can’t wait to start plundering goals for Selangor and dedicating them to his late father.