FEATURE: Worst Time for Injuries

Paul Schmidt-Troschke looks at the worst possible time for Injuries, weeks out from the tournament, which throw an individual's participation into question, as well as a coach's plans into disarray. 

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Transcript

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Hello and welcome to World Cup etc. with me, Paul Schmytorschke, and today we have to talk about a very serious topic for all football players, namely injuries. The tournament is edging closer every day, and we already have entered a very crucial period for all football players who have high hopes to be included in the teams which will be representing their countries at the World Cup. Because an injury now could mean they have to abstain from the competition completely. And there are many examples of exceptional football players having been denied the chance to play in their national team in these international competitions. A very famous case being from my home country, Germany, Marco Reuß, who enjoyed a very successful career at his home club Borussia Dortmund, and even reached the UEFA Champions League finals in 2013. And always due to very bad injuries, he missed the World Cup in 2014, the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, as well as the European Championships in 2016 and 2021. And now bad luck struck again a German playmaker with news which just broke two days ago on the 22nd of April that Bayern Munich Serge Gnabry in the final training session before Bayern Munich's match against Stuttgart last weekend tore his adductor. And I hope most of you have not yet torn their own adductors, but this injury is a particularly serious one and demands lots of care and especially time. And the less time is given for the injury to heal, of course, the higher the risk that it will reoccur and usually in a much worse form. Frenchman and Liverpool player Hugo Equitique was hit with the same fate after he completely ruptured his Achilles tandem in the quarterfinal match against Paris Saint-Germain. But the list goes on with Brazil's Rodrigo, of course, playing for Real Madrid. The Brazilian winger suffered a devastating torn ACL and a required recovery time of 9 to 12 months definitely means that he is out for the World Cup as well. While these three injuries suffered by Gnabri, Equitique and Rodrigo definitely prohibit them from playing in the World Cup, there are also different cases in which an injury could actually turn out to be an advantage. And that is because towards the end of the season, especially in the national leagues, the heat turns up significantly, which also increases the risk for injury simultaneously. So if a player sustains a minor injury, this might actually give him recovery time not only for his injury, but recovery in general, so that he is more fit than when the World Cup is just around the corner. And of course, with building this scenario, I want to get somewhere, in this case to Lamin Yamal. Two days ago, on the 22nd of April, as well as Serge Genabri's injury was announced, news broke that Yamal suffered a left hamstring tear immediately after converting a penalty against Celta Vigo in the Spanish La Liga. He is officially ruled out for the remainder of the club season, and of course, if the tear is severe enough, he will miss the World Cup entirely. However, Barcelona's medical team is still holding out hope that aggressive rehabilitation might allow him to recover just in time for Spain's opening matches. And this year's World Cup would be the first one in the 18-year-old's career, and that we all hope for a quick recovery of him, because it is just amazing to watch this young player play at this level and outmatch so many of his peers. And of course, if we speak about injuries and how impactful they can be on a player's career, no matter how good he is, we have to speak about Neymar. Because in Neymar's case, the most recent injuries, already dating back two or three years, were so severe that they time and time again prevented him from a full recovery. And Neymar not being in top shape, of course, he's not the youngest one anymore, prevented Brazil's national team coach Carlo Angelotti from confidently putting him into his squad for the upcoming World Cup. But Carlo Angelotti actually gave him a last chance. So Neymar has still a couple of weeks left to bring his fitness and himself up to the task. So that's it from us for today.

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