Uruguay midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro misses club debut after suffering freak shower accident

Nicolas Lodeiro with the Corinthians jersey

A member of the Uruguay team and a close friend of Luis Suarez, Nicolas Lodeiro’s luck has been going downhill of late. He had been officially presented to the Corinthians fans on Friday after a complex two-month-long saga over paperwork relating to his move from fellow Brazilian club Botafogo.

The 25 year old said in a press conference on Friday, "I've finally arrived. Time to do my part to show that I want to play and win many titles here... I've been through a tough time but that's in the past."

His scheduled debut on Sunday against Coritiba fell through after a ceramic soap dish fell on his foot the night before. Corinthians, fourth in the table with 24 points from 13 games, said the incident caused a deep cut and needed several stitches.

Brazilian soap dishes pack quite a punch as this report shows, but this is of course not the first time a freak toilet injury has interrupted a career. Casillas was called upon to play in the 2002 World Cup because regular Spanish goalkeeper Santiago Canizares had severed a tendon after a piece of glass from a shattered after-shave bottle had fallen on his foot.

And not to forget, the garrulous former Manchester United goalkeeper Alex Stepney had once dislocated his jaw shouting at his defenders in a match against Birmingham.