From Neuer to Alaba: The world selection from the Hochrum sanatorium

There are a lot of players in both national teams that he knows and appreciates – and he does with him on the operating table are located.

A world selection

The footprints that the star surgeon has left behind over the last few years lead to many national teams at this World Cup. The team of prominent patients who are in the Sanatorium Hochrum had knee surgery reads like a world selection:

From the world champions Manuel Neuer (2014) and Lucas Hernandez (2018) about the Croatian World Cup finalists Ivan Perisic up to ÖFB captain David Alaba. “The team would be competitive and could play for the title,” says Christian Fink.

Call from FC Bayern

Knee Pope The Upper Austrian was christened by the German tabloid because so many star players have confided in Christian Fink in recent years.

If a cruciate ligament tears on the field or on the ski slope, the path usually leads to Hochrum. “I didn’t realize how many prominent footballers we had with us.”

Christian Fink has always been close to top-class sport and cared about the well-being of the athletes. The name of the patient during the first cruciate ligament operation he was allowed to attend as a medical student was: Armin Assinger.

In the 1990s he served as team doctor for FC Tirol and accompanied the ÖSV team to the Olympic Games and World Championships for 20 years.

International football stars have been coming to the Upper Austrian’s practice since 2018.

At that time, Fink received a call from Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrtthe legendary club doctor of FC Bayern, with the request to operate on Corentin Tolisso’s knee. “I had to google his name first,” remembers Christian Fink.

Invitation from Alaba

Not only do all Bayern players who injure their knees end up in the sanatorium in Hochrum. Also clubs like Real Madrid or Juventus Turin send their stars to Tyrol.

The prominent patients are almost always accompanied by the club doctors and physiotherapists, who then keep a close eye on Christian Fink in the operating room. “I’m used to it. I’ve often operated live in front of thousands of people at conferences,” explains the surgeon.

It was also a knee conference in Napa Valley that recently brought Christian Fink to the USA. He didn’t miss the opportunity to attend the Austrians’ opening World Cup game against Jordan.

Some ÖFB team players were also his patients – and some of them became trusted friends. David Alaba, for example, who invited Fink to come to Madrid. “I’m really excited.”