A World Cup blighted by injury

by Ifeanyi Ibeh

Every footballer aspires to feature at the World Cup. For these footballers, it is the zenith of their respective careers regardless of how successful or otherwise it is, after all, there are numerous examples of great players who never got the chance to strut their stuff on football’s biggest stage.

So it is so disappointing when after giving their best in ensuring that their country’s flag gets to be hoisted at the World Cup, these players end up not going to the tournament for one reason or another, ranging from a dip in form, change in coaching personnel resulting in the player in question not found suitable by the team’s new handler, or in the worst case scenario, as a result of an injury.

Such was the case of players like England’s David Beckham, the Three Lions’ most capped outfield player who ruptured his Achilles tendon playing for his loan club AC Milan in March, as well as Nigeria’s Ikechukwu Uche, who suffered a ligament injury that kept him out for six months before staging a return a few weeks to the end of the season by which time it was already too late to impress new Super Eagles handler, Lars Lagerback, of his readiness to feature in South Africa.

For some players however, their injury status isn’t enough to rule them out of the tournament but will they recover on time to make some sort of contribution to their side’s World Cup aspirations?

Bounced from the party

Michael Ballack:

The influential German captain would have been making his third World Cup appearance but for the unfortunate ankle injury he picked up while playing for his erstwhile club Chelsea in last month’s FA Cup final win over Portsmouth. And with age no longer on his side, the last may have been seen of the German midfield general on the international stage.

Nani:

The Portuguese winger was ruled out of the tournament on as recently as last Tuesday, after hurting his collarbone while attempting to do the spectacular in training in Lisbon. His disappointment was, however, a blessing for Benfica’s Ruben Amorim who subsequently took the place of the Manchester United star in Portugal’s World Cup squad.

Rio Ferdinand:

The England captain’s dream of becoming the first Englishman since Bobby Moore to lead the Three Lions to World Cup glory was brought to an abrupt end right there in South Africa after an innocuous challenge from teammate Emile Heskey in his country’s first major training session penultimate Friday resulted in a knee injury for the Manchester United star whose place was subsequently taken by Tottenham’s Michael Dawson, and who doesn’t look likely to ever get to feature at another World Cup tournament.

John Obi Mikel:

So much was expected of Mikel at the World Cup but his inability to recover fully from an injury he picked up quite a while ago on club duty for Chelsea means he will have to wait another four years before gracing the World Cup. But he’s young and can look forward to enjoying a holiday that will most likely see him having anxious moments in front of his TV set wondering how things would have gone for the Super Eagles had he not voluntarily withdrawn himself from the squad.

Michael Essien:

Another Chelsea player who will be missing at the World Cup is Essien whose absence is sure to leave a huge vacuum in the Black Stars who are seeking to emulate their performance from four years ago when they made it to the second round of the tournament before losing to Brazil. The workaholic midfielder picked up a knee injury at the African Nations Cup in January and has failed to recover in time.

Lassana Diarra:

South Africa 2010 was going to be Diarra’s opportunity to confirm his credentials as one of France’s best players but he won’t be featuring at the World Cup after being told he needed a prolonged rest, no thanks to intestinal problems which began while scaling a glacier with his teammates during France’s week-long training camp in the French Alps last month.

Miroslav Karhan:

Karhan is Slovakia’s most capped player but a hamstring injury meant he won’t be playing any part in his country’s debut World Cup appearance in South Africa.

Gate crashers

Arjen Robben:

Robben sustained a thigh injury in last Saturday’s 6-1 drubbing of Hungary in Amsterdam and looked set to miss the World Cup until news emerged that he will be okay for the tournament but not in time for tomorrow’s opener against Denmark. Looks set to miss his team’s opening World Cup match against Denmark due to a hamstring injury.

Didier Drogba:

The next World Cup in Brazil is too far off for Drogba so he planned on making South Africa 2010 a memorable tournament for himself and his nation.

Fans of the Elephants must have thought they will be prosecuting the tournament without their talismanic captain after he broke a bone in his forearm, but the fearsome striker underwent a successful surgery and may only get to miss Cote d’Ivoire’s opening game against Portugal.

Fernando Torres:

The Spanish striker missed a considerable amount of last season’s campaign as a result of injuries and underwent a knee operation in April which appeared to put his participation at the World Cup in doubt. But the Liverpool striker came on as a substitute in Spain’s recent 6-0 thrashing of Poland in Murcia and looks set to play a key role, as the Spaniards seek to finally secure a first ever World Cup title.

Andrea Pirlo:

The influential midfielder was initially expected to miss the entire tournament after hurting his calf in penultimate Thursday’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of Mexico. But the latest news is that he will only get to miss Italy’s opening game against Paraguay and should be available for the defending champions’ remaining fixtures.

Harry Kewell:

Kewell has hardly played since December because of a troublesome groin injury but the injury-prone winger has been training with the rest of the Australian team in South Africa and, barring any unforeseen injury, should play a key part in Australia’s quest to go one better than the second round appearance they achieved four years ago in Germany.