Three homemade bombs exploded next to me! I am lucky to be alive

Mikel Merino, the 28-year-old midfielder of Arsenal and the Spanish national team, in an emotional note on the website Players Tribune, told a story of standing and a miracle.

According to "Verzeh Se", Merino reviewed the second half of last year; The days that started with a serious leg injury were accompanied by a championship in the English Premier League and finally ended with the conquest of the 2026 World Cup in New Jersey.

"Last February I had to watch the most depressing PowerPoint file of my life," Merino begins his note by referring to the difficult moments of his injury. The doctors told him four months before the World Cup that he should be out of action for six months and told him: "Michael, I'm ashamed. This is impossible." However, accompanied by his pregnant wife Lola, he went through the difficult treatment process and did not give up.

Merino also mentioned the shocking incident in 2017 that changed his outlook on life: “I'm lucky to be alive. I was 20 years old and I was playing in Dortmund when our bus was attacked with three bombs on the way to the European Champions League game. There was a deafening sound and the bus was about to overturn. I looked behind me and saw blood on the ground. Thick smoke and screams could be heard. That night I waited at the hospital for Mark Bartra, who had a broken wrist. The next day someone told me that a large piece of shrapnel was embedded in the back of the chair next to Bartra; My usual chair. But that day that seat was empty, because my legs were a little tired and the seats in front were bending. That's why I sat there and maybe this decision saved my life."

Even though Merino hadn't played in four months, he kept sending Delafuente his performance statistics until his name was finally on the World Cup roster: "Zero minutes in four months; How are you going to invite such a player? Suddenly, my name appeared on the screen: Michael Merino! I hugged Lola and kissed Marco. My phone was getting hot from the intensity of the messages. "I was going to the World Cup."

He played a key role in the tournament; From scoring against Portugal to the final against Argentina and blocking Lionel Messi's shot: "At one point Messi was ready to shoot behind the penalty area and I said to myself: No, not him. I attacked him. He shot hard; It hit me right in the face. I fell down as if I had been shot. It hit so hard that one of my eyes could not see until the end of the game. "I was really worried for a moment, but when the final whistle blew, I just felt relieved."

At the end, Merino thanked his family, writing: "I still can't believe all this happened. I can only say thank you."