Jose Molina career on hold after cancer diagnosis
Simon Baskett
Deportivo Coruna goalkeeper Jose Molina will be giving up football for an indefinite period after he was diagnosed as suffering from testicular cancer, he said on Monday.
The 32-year-old former Spanish international told reporters at a news conference in La Coruna that he would be returning to his home city of Valencia to receive treatment for a malignant tumour that had been detected in a routine medical test last week.
"I will undergo tests tomorrow and the doctors will then start planning the treatment," said Molina.
"I haven't been able to say goodbye to my team mates, but I hope to be back soon."
Molina said he underwent an operation on a testicular lump in June last year and all the tests since then had been negative.
Deportivo president Augusto Cesar Lendoiro, who accompanied the player at the news conference, offered the player the full support of the club and said he hoped he would be back in action in the near future.
"He will do everything he can to make sure he makes a rapid recovery and he knows that the club will be here to help him whenever he needs it.
"This is his third year with us and he has got another three left on his contract and we hope he will be with us much longer."
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES
Molina made his first division debut for Albacete in 1995 and signed for Atletico Madrid at the end of the season.
He was part of the Atletico side that did the league and cup double in 1996 and his form earned him a call-up to the international side.
He won his first cap against Norway in a friendly in 1996 when he was sent on as a make-shift striker after all the other substitutes had been used.
His last cap was in Spain's Euro 2000 opener against Norway, but he was then dropped after an error saw him blamed for his side's 1-0 defeat.
Molina moved to Deportivo following Atletico's relegation at the end of the 2000 season and has been the unquestioned first choice ever since, producing a string of outstanding performances in both the domestic and European matches.
A number of high-profile sportsmen have made successful recoveries from testicular cancer, including four-times Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, Bulgarian international footballer Lubo Penev and Scotland's Alan Stubbs.
