As the football fans await in breathless anticipation for the start of the World Cup in Brazil, let’s give a spare of thought for those injured superstars who will not make it to the big tourney instead will be cheering on their respective teams at home.
As the football fans await in breathless anticipation for the start of the World Cup in Brazil, let’s give a spare of thought for those injured superstars who will not make it to the big tourney instead will be cheering on their respective teams at home.
Here are the football players who were unfortunate to miss out on the FIFA World Cup due to injury:
Marco Reus – Germany
All was well in the German camp leading upto the World Cup until the friendly against Armenia where the Borussia Dortmund star, Marco Reus became the latest big-name casualty, to be ruled out of the tournament after turning his ankle and giving major headache to coach Joachim Loew.
Radamel Falcao – Colombia
Colombia were ‘so sure’ that their star man, Radamel Falcao would make it to the FIFA World Cup but the Monaco striker failed to recover from his pre-WC injury and was not included in the 23-man squad.
Franck Ribery – France
France and their coach Didier Deschamps were dealt a major blow prior leaving to Brazil when their star winger and Bayern Munich talisman Franck Ribery was ruled out of the tournament after succumbing to a lower-back injury in training.
Theo Walcott – England
The English team were rocked with injuries including the Arsenal forward Theo Walcott who was ruled out for the World Cup in January after hit by a serious knee injury in a FA Cup game against Tottenham Hotspurs.
Kevin Strootman – Holland
Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal and his merry men troops have suffered far worse than most teams in their build up for the World Cup. Marred with injuries, that included Rafael van der Vaart, Gregory van der Wiel as well as Manchester United target Kevin Strootman. The midfielder’s absence will be felt the most, having suffered a cruciate ligament surgery in March.
Riccardo Montolivo – Italy
Another star player who was ruled out of the World Cup was Italy’s key midfield marshal – Riccardo Montolivo. The player broke the tibia in his left leg in Italy’s warm-up clash against the Republic of Ireland and is set to be out for six months. What a blow would that be for Italy and their World Cup chances!
Luis Montes – Mexico
Mexico were another side that was rocked with an injury to their key midfielder Luis Montes who was left the game three minutes after scoring with a broken leg!
Thiago Alcantara – Spain
Even though reigning champions Spain are blessed with talent in the midfield, losing a player of Thiago Alcantara’s quality can be a massive blow. The Bayern Munich midfielder was ruled out for the World Cup due to knee ligaments after being named in Vicente del Bosque’s original 30-man squad.
Christian Benteke – Belgium
Even though he failed to live up to his reputation in the English Premier League, Belgium will miss the services of their talisman striker, Christian Benteke who suffered an achilles tendon injury.
Roman Shirokov – Russia
Russia and their coach Fabio Capello were dealt a major blow prior flying out to Brazil when their captain and key midfielder Roman Shirikov was ruled out due to a knee injury.
How badly are the teams going to miss the services of their stars that are ruled out due to injuries? With every match labelled as a ‘decider’, the countries will hope they are not left to rue the services of their injured prone superstars.
