Despite not having played the World Cup final due to a last-minute injury, Same Khedira made history that day becoming the tenth player to win the World Cup and the Champions League in the same season. Only two Real Madrid players had previously fulfilled this achievement: Roberto Carlos and Christian Karembeu.
When Khedira suffered a knee ligament injury back in November, it seemed that the 2013-14 season would not leave good memories for him, since he would need six months to recover and he would be a doubt to play again for Los Blancos and his national team in the season.
However, Khedira was able to recover from that blow, reducing the recovery period and returning before expected. Thus, Carlo Ancelotti could count on him in the last dates of La Liga and the Champions League final, a match in which he featured in the starting eleven.
His miraculous recovery also earned him a ticket to Brazil, where he was a key player for Germany. In fact, hadn’t he picked up an injury during the warm up, he would have made it in the starting eleven, closing a historic season for him. Only Roberto Carlos in 2002 with Brazil and Karembeu in 1998 with France have won the World Cup with their national teams and the Champions League with Los Blancos in the same year.
Thus, Khedira joined a list of only ten players who have lifted the European and the World titles in one season. Apart from Roberto Carlos and Karembeu, Sepp Maier, Paul Breitner, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller, Uli Honess and Jupp Kapellmann did it.
Khedira is also the tenth player to win the World Cup while being a Real Madrid player. That list includes Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Alvaro Arbeloa, Raul Albiol, Xabi Alonso, Gunter Netzer, Jorge Valdano, Roberto Carlos and Karembeu.
