So the FIFA World Cup 2010 is just a few short days away, with the opening fixture set to take place on Friday (SA vs. Mexico) at 3.As all the players perform their last preparations for the tournament out in the cold weather of South Africa (it’s winter there), there’s a handful of players who will be sat back in England with a. As all the teams and players get ready for the tournament out in South Africa, there’s a small collection of players that will be sat at home with a desk fan to warn off the heat whilst watching it with the rest of us.

There appears to be a good number of players missing the tournament through injury, and a surprising amount of them come from the Premier League:

 

Rio Ferdinand (injured)
Nani (Man Utd) INJURED
Didier Drogba (doubtful)
Michael Ballack (injured)
Michael Essien (injured)
Mikel (Chelsea) INJURED

Actually, looking at that list, maybe it should be the curse of Manchester United and Chelsea ¦ especially when we consider John Terry’s antics in the run up to the competition. Even players who used to play for United or Chelsea appear to be caught up in it:

 

Arjen Robben (doubtful)
David Beckham (injured) Ex-Manchester United

 

So what is it about playing in the English Premier League that seems to lead to an increased amount of injuries? It’s an interesting statistic that pretty much all of the injured World Cup players come from the two teams that finished first and second in last years’ Premier League seasons.

Most pundits agree that the English top flight division is one of the toughest leagues to play in in the World. The pace of the game is quicker, there are more games (on average) per season for the biggest clubs and the players are generally closed down faster and tackled harder.
It’s clear that playing in the English Premier League may give you the chance to play at the best stadiums in front of some of the best fans in the World, but it certainly decreases your chances of playing in major international tournaments.

 

It’s by no means the first time England have suffered from problems with injury either; take Wayne Rooney’s broken metatarsal or Michael Owen’s collapse in the last major tournament.

Luckily, Rooney has managed to survive this time (touch wood, fingers crossed, pray), whereas Michael will be sat at home for the first time in his career, playing about with the dehumidifier.

 

So if you want to play in major World tournaments, perhaps the English Premier League (or at least its top clubs) isn’t the place you want to be playing your football. If nothing else, at least England, Ghana, Germany and Portugal will have an excuse this year ¦ if only the curse had reached Ronaldo!

 

Oh well, if nothing else, at least the players staying behind this year can take some comfort from the fact that it’s winter in South Africa. So while the other players are concerning themselves with umbrellas and coats, we’ll be dusting off the air conditioners!

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