More and more players are saying goodbye to the World Cup due to injury
As the World Cup approaches, many players are making the final sprint to be selected for the World Cup squad, but many players have missed the World Cup in Qatar early due to injuries before the World Cup. Since the Qatar World Cup is scheduled to be held in winter for the first time, the format of many leagues and continental competitions has also been compressed before the World Cup.
Stars have had to endure a heavy schedule this year, especially from Europe's top teams, not only in domestic leagues, but also in European competitions and domestic cups, as well as in the UEFA Nations League.
Previously, the author published an article about the high load of players caused by the World Cup Qatar World Cup: the most tired World Cup for players? , interested friends can review.
A large number of games are a big test for the physical fitness of players and the club's training and recovery level, after all, not everyone is Ronaldo or Modric, and not all physical coaches are Pintus. Here's a look at the top stars who recently announced that they missed the World Cup in Qatar due to injury, and whether their farewell to the World Cup was destiny or a man-made disaster.
A top player who recently missed the World Cup due to injury (possibly).
At present, the injury situation of the defending champion France team is relatively serious, including the absolute core players such as Kante and Pogba have bid farewell to the World Cup due to injury.
Argentina's attacking man Dybala and midfielder Lo Celso will also be absent, casting a shadow over Messi's journey to realize his dream.
In addition, the injury of Jota, the main scorer of the Portuguese team, also has a great impact on Ronaldo's World Cup journey. Since most of the players of the World Cup teams play for top teams, they participate in relatively more competitions, including league and European competitions, domestic cup matches and national team warm-up matches, UEFA Nations League, AFCON qualifiers and so on.
It is worth mentioning that about 12 players were injured in October, the most intensive schedule of the season, and the high frequency of matches undoubtedly increases the risk of injuries for players.
The five major leagues represent teams in this season
For example, the schedule of matches played by the five major league champions last season is the Bundesliga Ban Ban Ban Bayern Munich, who needs to play 24 games.
The shortest intervals between matches are Real Madrid and Milan, with an average interval of 4.38 days between each match, while the five defending champions have less than 4.8 days between matches, and Real Madrid has more than one day less rest day than in the same period last season. Milan currently includes main players such as Salemarkles, Florenzi, Calabria and Maignan in addition to Ibrahimovic, who are long-term ill.
Both Real Madrid and Bayern have played nine games in October this season, the most of any of the five teams, and they play an average of one game every 3.44 days in October. Bayern, who played at the tightest pace in October, now have as many as six injured players including Sarr, Lucas, Müller, Neuer, Sane and De Licht.
An overview of the number of matches played by non-goalkeeper "Ironman" stars in the five major leagues this season
Among the non-goalkeepers who played more in the five major leagues this season, the average interval between matches in La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga was less than five days, with Brazilian star Vinicius and Argentina's Lautaro playing just 4.4 days apart.
Bundesliga RB Leipzig's French rising star Nkunku is the non-goalkeeper position in the top five leagues, having made 20 appearances so far and is expected to play 23 games before the World Cup, with a whopping 1,948 minutes, equivalent to starting and playing about 21.6 games. Nkunku currently has 14 goals and one assist in 20 appearances and currently leads the Bundesliga goalscorers' charts.
The 35-year-old Messi is expected to play 19 games before the World Cup, playing almost the same amount of time as his national team teammate Lautaro, who is 10 years younger.
Messi has been in excellent form this season and currently leads the Ligue 1 assist table with 10 assists, in addition to scoring 12 goals.
National team matchday
As well as the pace of the game at club level has been greatly accelerated this season, players will inevitably need to travel to the national team for the international break. Taking Brazil and Belgium, currently the top two in the world, as examples, the Brazilian national team has a total of eight matches before the start of this year's World Cup, four of which are commercial matches; Belgium also have eight games ahead of this year's World Cup, including two commercial matches and six UEFA Nations League matches.
At the same time, players also need to travel long distances, in fact, this year there are also many players injured during national team training or national team games, which also makes the conflict between the national team and the club more intense. Recently, a number of World Cup teams have asked clubs to release players to the national team in November, but such requests have also been rejected by many giants.
Caught between club and national teams, players are embarrassed not to want to miss the World Cup while also showing a salary worthy performance at the club. Even the national team and the club have different opinions on the treatment after injury.
What is more worrying is that after a large number of matches, the risk of injury on the field of players in this year's World Cup has also increased, and it is hoped that the sad moment of World Cup injury retirement will not be repeated. It will also affect the direction of the player's club this season. While a good World Cup requires players to be in good shape, it may be even more important to have better physical condition.
epilogue
Injuries often accompany the entire career of professional football players, which is also an inevitable status quo in professional competitive sports, but because of the change in the timing of the World Cup, the high-intensity and high-frequency matches caused by the emergence of injuries of players, is this destiny or man-made disaster? Which players are the most regrettable to you for missing due to injury? What changes do you think the Qatar World Cup will bring to the European professional leagues? See you in our comments section.
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