Cazorla returned to Oviedo 20 years after he left as a youth-team player
Brotherton,
Santi Cazorla, a former midfielder for Arsenal, set the stage for a dramatic comeback when Real Oviedo won the La Liga 2 play-off final to return to the Spanish top flight after 24 years. Cazorla, a 40-year-old who returned to his former club in 2023, scored a penalty late in the first half of Saturday's second leg, leaving CD Mirandes 2-0 down overall. Oviedo levelled the tie in the second half through Ilyas Chaira before Francisco Portillo scored a stunning winner in extra-time to secure promotion.
Cazorla claimed the decisive goal in the play-off semi-final tie against Almeria, coming off the bench to convert a free-kick and secure a 3-2 aggregate victory.
Cazorla was a member of Oviedo's academy. However, in 2003, the club's first team was forced to re-enter the third division due to financial difficulties, which decimated the club's youth program. Cazorla was one of thousands of fans and former players who bought shares in Oviedo to keep the club going when the club faced another crisis a decade later. A two-time European champion with Spain, the midfielder spent six years at Arsenal and made 180 appearances before leaving in 2018.
He suffered an Achilles injury in October 2016, going on to have 11 operations to cure the problem.
One of the operations led to gangrene with doctors telling Cazorla he should be satisfied to walk again, never mind play.
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