Velez midfielder Bella 'itching' to return

The 23-year-old confirmed he suffered a seizure in Friday's defeat to Newell's Old Boys, but has revealed the incident came as a result of "strong head trauma" not epilepsy

Velez Sarsfield midfielder Ivan Bella has revealed he is desperate to return to action after collapsing at the end of his side's clash with Newell's Old Boys at the end of last week.The 23-year-old fell to the ground moments after the final whistle in the 3-1 defeat, and appeared to suffer convulsions before being rushed to hospital following medical treatment at the scene.Despite the ordeal, Bella revealed he is itching to return to action as soon as he is cleared by medical professionals."I want to get back but I have to wait around ten days," he said on TV programme Estudio Futbol. "I want to be with my team-mates as soon as possible. I would put my boots on now to play if I could but the doctors will not allow it."I hope to be back for the re-match against Newell's in the Copa Libertadores."Velez's club doctor, Ricardo Coppolecchia, confirmed the player had suffered a seizure but Bella has since denied that the incident was linked to epilepsy."It was a seizure. I had not been taking any medication because it had never happened to be before or anybody in my family," he explained."They talked about sudden death and heart failure but we learned the truth when we spoke to the doctors. It was a strong head trauma that I was not aware of."Some members of Bella's family were in attendance for the match and the player admitted his loved-ones feared the worst at the time of his collapse."I saw the footage of what happened only on Saturday and I understood the scare my family were given," Bella added. "I could not believe what had happened. I was foaming at the mouth like a dog."I don't think my father wanted to see the footage. My brother has a torn ligament because he leapt from the crowd onto the field, just like my sister did.