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The biggest celebration on earth just kicked off with Brazil beating Croatia 3-1 in the World Cupopener. But as with any major tournament, injuries continue to dominate the headlines. The hosts were already given an injury scare when their prodigal son Neymar was reported injured in training a few days ago.Fortunately for the Seleo, it wasnt anything serious. But, Italy, Colombia, France and Germany werent so fortunate, as Riccardo Montolivo, Radamel Falcao, Franck Ribery and Marco Reus were all ruled out of the World Cup with injury, after being included in the preliminary 30-man squad.All four of them were pivotal in their sides qualification for Brazil and are sure to be missed by their respective teams. How will those four sides cope up without their aforementioned star players? Will their injuries prove a blessing in disguise or will it end up in the sides elimination?Let us take a look at the alternative options available to those four sides.
#1 Colombia: Ramos and Martinez will ensure that Falcao wont be missed
Although Colombia were destined to their fate a few months ago, a miraculous recovery by Radamel Falcao meant that their talismanic skipper was named in the initial 30-man squad. Coach José Pékerman gave his captain every opportunity to recover, but in the end he wasn’t able to make it. Pékerman described the decision to axe Falcao as “the saddest day I’ve had since becoming Colombia coach”.
Fortunately for Los Cafeteros, their tremendous attacking depth means that they have enough cover for the injured Falcao. Both Adrian Ramos and Jackson Martinez are coming off the back of a stellar goal scoring campaigns for their respective clubs.
While Colombia will no doubt miss their inspirational leader, the fact that they have two premier forwards to lead the line means that, at least from a footballing point of view, Falcao won’t be missed as much.
#2 France: A perfect replacement already in the squad
Franck Ribery is undoubtedly the nation’s most gifted attacker. But his form for his club and country over the past few months have been nothing to write home about. A fully fit, in-form Ribery is irreplaceable, but that wasn’t the Ribery who looked set to arrive in Brazil.
As a result, it is unlikely that Les Bleus are going to miss him as much. Especially given the fact that they have a like-for-like replacement in Antoine Griezmann. The 23-year-old Real Sociedad winger is coming off the back of a stellar season in which he scored 16 league goals and was the side’s main attacking threat.
Tipped for greatness in Brazil, the injury to Ribery might just be the best thing to happen for Griezmann as he looks to cement his place in the national side.
#3 Italy: Montolivo might be missed more in the dressing room than on the pitch
When the news that Montolivo will miss the World came through, Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said, “Everyone is broken.” For the Italian midfielder wasn’t just a key player on the pitch, but off it as well. As hard as it might be for the Azzurri to keep on going, they will at least take heart in the fact that they are well stocked in central midfield, even with the 29-year-old’s absence.
Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi look set to start in the opener against England in Manaus and depending on which formation Prandelli decides to go with, he has the likes of Claudio Marchisio, Marco Veratti and Thiago Motta to call on.
In Verrati, Prandelli also has a midfielder who can play as a defensive shield like De Rossi, as well as an attacking midfielder like Montolivo. All of which mean that on the pitch, Montolivo might not be as big a miss. Off it though, you can never be too sure.
#4 Germany: Julian Draxler might get his big break in Reuss absence
Although Germany are well stocked in terms of attacking midfielders, the last thing they would have wanted was an injury to one of their in-form playmakers. Unfortunately for Germany and for Marco Reus, that was exactly what happened. Reus’s injury means that coach Joachim Low will have some work to do to pick his starting XI for his side’s opener against Portugal next week.
In Julian Draxler and Andre Schurrle, he has two completely different players who can take Reus’s place on the left wing. While Schurrle might be a safer option, given his experience and finishing ability, Draxler will provide an X-factor that might prove to be crucial later in the tournament.
Low can also move Gotze or Muller out wide and play with Klose up front. So, it is fair to say that, he has plenty of options at his disposal. Whether any of them will turn out to be as good as Reus, only time will tell.
