World Cup Blog: latest injury scares!

Overall, like the last few World Cups, players involved in the centre of gravity of the sport, ie the European Clubs, are falling victims to injury & fatigue as the World Cup is about to start. With stars such as Michael Ballack of Germany & Rio Ferdinand of England (both their respective countries' Captains) & Michael Essien of Ghana heading the list of top injured players missing the Cup, the list is starting to grow bigger.

Many players get injured due to their fatigued bodies whilst others' injuries suffered during the laborious European season simply flare up in training.

It may be interesting for casual fans to know that players in the top European Clubs play 50-60 matches in the space of nine months. At the height of the domestic & European competitions this may mean three matches per week. Mid May to mid July is the off season for these players. This year however, most elite players will miss this period as they headed off to national training camps to train for the World Cup.

The latest injury list:

• Holland's creative midfielder Arjen Robben limped off with a partial muscle tear after coming off the bench & scoring two goals in his team's 6-1 win vs Hungary on Saturday. Holland are counting so much on Robben that they have declared they will keep him in the squad & use him in later stages of the competition once fit! well, Holland are one of my dark horses of the tournament anyway.
• Similarly, The Italian camp is adamant all is OK with their play maker Antonio Pirlo. News from the Italy camp is that it will take between 15 and 20 days for the midfielder to recover fully after he was left to nurse a calf injury following Friday's training session.
• The Socceroos reserve keeper Brad Jones has quit the World Cup to rush back to be with his ill 4 year old son. Like many others, my thoughts are with Brad & his family. Brad Jones has been an unsung hero & great servant of the Socceroos & will be missed. On a happier note, he has one or two more World Cups ahead of him in the coming years.
• Didier Drogba, the tallismatic goal scorer of Ivory Coast has undergone an operation on his broken arm & is hoping to be fit for the World Cup
• Ghana's influential midfielder Sulley Montari (who plays for European Champions Inter Milan) is a doubt for Ghana's opening match vs Serbia (the Socceroos opponents)
• Chile's (one of my other dark horse tips) European based star striker Humberto Suazo will reportedly miss the first two group matches.
• Brazil's no 1 keeper Julio Cesar will miss Brazil's final warm up match but is reportedly on the way to recover for Brazil's opening match of the World Cup.
• The European based star of Honduras, Wilson Palacios is another player who is injured & may miss the World Cup.
• Uruguay's European based superstar Diego Forlan was injured in a warm up match but the extent of his injury has been kept under wrap by the Uruguay officials & coaching staff. Forlan (well known to Manchester United fans) is the key player for Uruguay.

Next Blog: Germany's key players in the World Cup