It seems as if 2014 Brazil World Cup has already sunk into depression. Many national teams are plagued with recent injuries that force players to drop out of this year’s World Cup and wait for next one. But the problem is that they have a less than a month left and have already witnessed numbers of players dropping out due to injuries.
One player who brought a huge disappointment to fans because of injury was Columbian player, Radamel Falcao (AS Monaco). The 27 year old Falcao was supposed to lead Colombia in their Group C against Ivory Coast, Greece, and Japan, but he tore his ACL during a Coupe de France match in January. He already told the press that he will not be able to play in the World Cup because of rehabilitation. However, recent rumors are said that Falcao is trying to prove that he can make to World Cup through training with his club.
“Radamel Falcao Garcia will join his team-mates in Buenos Aires,” the statement read.
Even if Falcao makes the cut on June 2nd, many fans would doubt if he can play his best since he hasn’t seen in action for over 4 months.
Besides Falcao, Uruguayan forward, Luis Suarez (Liverpool) also made a headline for an injury in his left knee due to collision with Paul Dummett (Newcastle United) on 11 May. Although pain on his left knee was alleviated, 11 days later, he finds himself in pain again as his left knee flared up as he was practicing with his squad. Suarez recently went through keyhole arthrocopy surgery on 22 May and was recently released from the hospital nearby Montevideo. However, he will be forced into 2 to 3 week rehabilitation and because of that he may not be able to play in the first match against England in their group.
Even though Suarez isn’t cut from the squad, Lars Bender (Germany) and Ivan Strinić (Croatia) reported that they will not play in the World Cup. Even though Germany already announced their squad on 8 May, Germany announced that Bender will not be playing for this World Cup. Bender had a pain in his thigh during the national team training at Italy and was forced to sit out during the friendly match against Poland on 14 May. However, seeing how his pain is not getting any better, Bender drops out from the team.
“When a player is ruled out so close before a tournament then it is very disappointing,” Joachim Löw said during a press conference in Italy. “I feel personally very sorry for Lars because I know how much he wanted to be in Brazil.”
Along with Germany, Croatia is also forced to rule out their fullback, Ivan Strinić, because of his ruptured hamstring. Seeing how he has failed to recover on time, Croatia decides to exclude him for this World Cup. Strinić has made into 32 appearances in his international matches and was nominated as a top choice during Euro 2012.
“I feel sorry for him because he has been part of the national team for a long time but we have to be fair to the other players who are ready to jump in, although we don’t have too many options in the left back slot,” coach Niko Kovac said during a press conference in Austria.
Besides them, Diego Kosta (Atletico Madrid) also struggles with a ruptured hamstring and it is unclear if he can join the Spanish national team for this World Cup. Due to so many unexpected injuries, many national teams are busy looking for a replacement for injured players and are panicking because they too are completely helpless.