They also made him to some cheesy poses.  Maybe someone should tell Pipita that posing with his thumbs up like that will hurt his back.

On how he feels: I feel a complete relief in my head and in my body.  I’m feeling more upbeat and feel that I can face anything now.  I don’t know how much time I’ll need to return to playing, but I’m very happy and eager to start the recovery process.

On the operation: the doctors had told me that I could leave the hospital on my own feet, and wanted to send me back to the hotel on the same day.  But we decided to spend the night there as a precaution.  On the day that I left the hospital, I started walking around Chicago and I could walk hours and hours because the happiness I had from things going well made me forget everything else.

On the support from his teammates and fans: I get emotional when I think about my teammates wearing the t-shirt supporting me.  I sent them all a message of thanks.  I’ve received a lot of messages of support from the web site and from different social networks.  It makes me proud not only as a player but also as a person.  I have so much happiness that I’m sure that everything will turn out great.

On being appreciated as a footballer and a person: no one remembers the titles you won when you retire from football, they remember if you were a good person and that’s the most important thing for me.  Obviously, my job is to play football and win titles.  But if you’re not a good person, you can’t enjoy that.  And that’s something that I value a lot, something that my family and Real Madrid taught me.  I was educated well and my family and friend have always helped me to see things realistically.

On wanting to play: I can’t explain how much I want to play.  If being on the bench is hard enough, imagine having to watch all the games from the stands for months.  But, that’s what I have to do now and I have the mental strength to overcome these things.  I hope to get the best out of this situation.