Bernardo Anor didn't set out to be a counselor to his Columbus Crew teammates on how to recover from a serious knee injury but circumstances dictated that he become the resident expert.
Anor on Saturday returned to the starting lineup for the first time since July 14 when an anterior cruciate ligament tear in his left knee ended his season.
The match against Montreal came two days after defender Glauber suffered a season-ending ACL tear of his left knee and nearly three weeks following the same fate for midfielder Eddie Gaven.
Gaven is scheduled for surgery Friday while Glauber's procedure is expected to be next week.
"They have questions about the injury, about the surgery and how long it's going to take until they are actually doing therapy," Anor told MLSsoccer.com.
Anor, 25, is experienced at rehabilitating his left knee after having also torn his ACL his sophomore year at the University of South Florida in 2008. After both injuries he was the recipient of tissue from a donor in order to make the necessary repairs.
"Honestly, the first one was a little tougher," the midfielder said. "I didn't know what I was going through. The second one I learned from the first and I could go step by step. I was taking my time.
"Of course, you get a little impatient, a little frustrated. You start seeing your leg doing pretty well, you start gaining the strength back and all of a sudden you think you can just step onto the field. It takes quite awhile."
Anor didn’t return to game action from last year's injury until a preseason match on March 24 and his first league appearance came off the bench June 5 at Philadelphia.
Coach Robert Warzycha said Anor's return should boost the spirits of Gaven and Glauber as they start their recoveries.
"Bernardo can be inspiration for those guys," Warzycha said. "He had the same injury and look at how he came back."
If there was any doubt that Anor had regained game fitness it was removed last week when he played 90 minutes vs. Chicago in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match on a Thursday and again went the distance against Montreal.
"Hopefully [Glauber and Gaven] see me on the field now and it's something they can look at and take as a positive," Anor said.
