Picture: On his return from a 15-month injury, Steve Zakuani (Seattle) exchanges shirts with the man who broke his leg

Rewind to April 22, 2011.

15 months ago in the MLS, the Seattle Sounders claimed a 1-0 victory on the road at the Colorado Rapids in a match that forward Steve Zakuani will never forget.

Just three minutes into that encounter, the Seattle schemer was almost put out of action forever. Brian Mullen recklessly mowed down Zakuani with a brutal foul that shredded the ex-Arsenal forward’s right leg into two, and as a result Mullen was served with a 10-game ban for his shocking challenge.

It’s been a difficult path of recovery for the Congolese forward, but on Saturday night Steve Zakuani made his long-awaited return to football. As fate would have it, his comeback match was against the Colorado Rapids.

In the 85th minute Zakuani came off the bench to rapturous applause from the Seattle home faithful. 

The standout moment of Zakuani’s comeback match, however, came at the full-time whistle as the Sounders’ schemer was snapped swapping shirts and embracing Brian Mullen in an amazing moment of forgiveness and compassion.

Zakuani. What a boss.