2014 World Cup: Serbian therapist Mariana Kovacevic treats injured Diego Costa ahead of Champions League final

Published on: 21 May 2014
2014 World Cup: Serbian therapist Mariana Kovacevic treats injured Diego Costa ahead of Champions League final
Mariana Kovacevic will be joining the Black Stars set up for the World Cup

By Ameenu Shardow

Follow on Twitter @alooameenu

Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa traveled to receive treatment from renowned therapist Mariana Kovacevic in a desperate attempt to be fit for the Champions League final against Real Madrid on Saturday.

The Serbian ‘magic healer’ who will be joining Ghana’s back room staff for the 2014 World Cup is renowned for her horse placenta treatment which accelerates recovery of injured athletes.

Costa is diagnosed with a grade one hamstring injury sustained in last weekend’s draw with Barcelona in the final game of Atletico’s successful La Liga campaign.

This type of injury keeps players out for at least 15 days – effectively ruling out the Spaniard out of Saturday’s Champions League finals against city rivals Real Madrid.

Kovacevic who has worked on several world class players like Wayne Rooney, Robin Van Persie and Frank Lampard and was also attached to Ghana’s national team for the 2010 World Cup used a different kind of treatment on Costa who is due back to rejoin the Atletico team on Wednesday afternoon.

“There were no animal parts used and no injections,” he said.

“The doctor has treated a lot of players and seems to be held in very high regard.

“She explained everything to me beforehand and told me she would be using fluid from a placenta that had come from a woman.

“Nothing went into the muscle itself. It was just a case of massaging the liquid on to the skin around the affected area.

“It meant I was able to play again within a fortnight and help the team at an important time.”

Kovacevic who holds a degree in pharmacology will be rejoining the Black Stars team as a member of a detailed back room staff for the World Cup in Brazil.

She was first introduced to the Ghana FA by then Black Stars coach Milovan Rajevac and worked with the team at the last World Cup in South Africa and was able to cure players like Kevin-Prince Boateng, John Mensah and the like ahead of time for matches.

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