Friday 13/March/2026 – 03:53 AM
Michael Duberry, club defender, revealed Chelsea The former Englishman talked about the scenes of his historic participation in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final in 1998 against Stuttgart, Germany, confirming that he played the match while suffering from temporary paralysis of the face.
These statements reveal an undisclosed aspect of the career of the player who contributed to achieving the European and local double for the Blues in that era.
In statements on the “SACKED” podcast, Duberry explained that he had suffered from Bell’s palsy just two weeks before the final match, and the player, who was 21 years old at the time, described his condition as similar to a small stroke that caused a complete collapse of the muscles of one side of his face and his inability to move them.
Behind the scenes of discovering the injury before the European final
Duberry recounted the details of discovering the disease, saying that he was having lunch with his young teammates after training, before they noticed a strange change in his facial features. When he went to the bathroom, he discovered that he was unable to move the left side of his face completely. The club doctor later confirmed that he had Bell’s palsy, while warning him that recovery might take weeks, months, or even years.
The player pointed out that the coach at the time, Gianluca Vialli, decided to temporarily exclude him from the list to give him a chance to recover, but his insistence and dedication to training forced the technical staff to return him to the starting lineup on the night of the decisive confrontation against the German team.
To endure and achieve the title at Rasunda Stadium
Michael Duberry played the entire match in Stockholm, which ended with Chelsea winning 1-0 thanks to a goal by Italian star Gianfranco Zola. The English defender confirmed that the pictures of the title celebrations represented to him the meaning of steadfastness more than glory, as he feared that he would be the weakest link in the team due to his health condition, but he succeeded in overcoming the physical and psychological challenge.
Michael Dubery’s career with Chelsea
It is noteworthy that Duberry, who is currently 50 years old, represented Chelsea in 116 official matches, and won several titles with the team, most notably the European Cup Winners’ Cup, the European Super Cup in 1998 after defeating Real Madrid, and the English League Cup. He later moved to Leeds United in 1999, before retiring from football permanently in 2013.
