World Cup 2022: After Sadio Mane’s package, the specter of injuries lurks around the World Cup

On the other hand, Sadio Mane throws in the towel: he will not see the Doha towers. Injured in his right fibula twelve days before the start of the World Cup, the Senegalese, second in the Ballon d’Or ranking, was clearly part of coach Aliou Cisse’s shortlist. But the country’s top star’s injury did not progress as Teranga Lions doctors had hoped and the Bayern Munich striker was forced to withdraw on Thursday, November 17, leaving his country an orphan.

Days after France’s Christopher Nkunku, Sadio Mane, who underwent emergency surgery, is proving Didier Deschamps right. “During this period, my colleagues are also facing the same difficulties. There are players in the recovery phase, some were injured yesterday, some may be injured tonight., warned the Blues manager by revealing his squad two weeks before the World Cup. When he bombed, the list of injury absentees is, admittedly, dizzying.

Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante, Presnel Kimpembe, Christopher Nkunku or Mike Mainani with the Blues; Amin Harith for Morocco; England’s Ben Chilwell and Rhys James; German Timo Werner or Portuguese Diogo Jota; And Sadio Mane, respectively – by the way. There aren’t many, and they’re prestigious: if Senegal had to decide to play the World Cup without their best player, South Korea is breathing down their star Son Heung-min, who suffered a facial injury during Tottenham’s match against Marseille. Champions League, 1^Eh November.

Overcrowded calendars

Should these injuries be compounded by the resentment that overshadows the World Cup in Qatar later in the year? Many factors explain an athlete’s injury and they are difficult to control, even to predict; But according to sports researcher Joel Mason of the University of Jena, Germany, “The potentially increased risk of injury before and during the World Cup is justified”.

For him, “When there is an increase in players’ workload or prolonged exposure to a compressed schedule, there is a greater risk of injury.”especially the muscles. However, in order to organize the World Cup in bearable temperatures, the decision-makers of world football compressed the calendar.

In a report published on November 15, Fifpro – the global players’ union – condemned the extreme overload many players face. In addition to the reduced preparation for the World Cup, most players in the big European clubs have a chain of matches, often twice a week. The stars of the biggest clubs had almost no time to recover, multiplying meetings every three to four days after the start of the season.

During the 2002 World Cup, Professor Jan Ekstrand, a Swedish football doctor who has spent his life working on injuries and how to prevent them, studied the effects of busy schedules on players’ health. results ? “Players who played more than one game a week in the ten weeks leading up to the World Cup were more likely to be injured or perform less well than others.”he sums it up.

Benzema’s uncertainty

For former vice-president of the Medical Committee of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). “Risk of muscle injury increases for six days after a match”. With teams playing in the group stage every four days, the World Cup in Qatar will not slow down. So Jan Ekstrand hopes coaches will change teams to avoid injuries, something he knows all too well.

It is impossible to predict whether the World Cup will be an avalanche of physical faults, or whether Sadio Mane will be its latest unfortunate victim. “There will definitely be injuries as a result of too many matches this seasonDeveloped by researcher Joel Mason. But knowing when they will strike – before, during or after the World Cup – is difficult to predict, as it depends on many factors. »

The fact is that when the whistle blew for the first match between Qatar and Ecuador on Sunday, November 20, the bench was not empty. Karim Benzema is a victim of the French, who were suspended from renewing the Ballon d’Or. “annoying”, “fatigue” and “wounds” Muscles for a month – hopefully he won’t be the next player forced to throw in the towel.