Injuries have cost so many players their World Cup chance. How do you deal with that?
Leah Williamson rarely fails to find the right words to fit the occasion.
Yet, after the news broke that the England captain had ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) just three months before the World Cup, she largely held them back. The only exception to that was an Instagram post published in the immediate aftermath of the injury where she explained: “Until I have the words to express my feeling properly I will struggle to verbalise them. The noise around the situation is loud and I need some quiet to let it all sink in.”
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The noise around players missing a major tournament has rarely been louder than it has been this summer. That’s because the list of top players missing the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand through injury reads like a who’s who of global women’s football.
Before the tournament even started England knew they would be missing Williamson, Beth Mead — player of the tournament at last year’s European Championship — and Fran Kirby. The Netherlands were without Vivianne Miedema. The USA were missing Mallory Swanson, Sam Mewis, Catarina Macario and captain Becky Sauerbrunn. Janine Beckie was out for Canada. Katie Rood for New Zealand. Giulia Gwinn was missing for Germany. Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Delphine Cascarino were out for France.
GO DEEPER
Vivianne Miedema on World Cup injuries: 'I've had to turn off the TV. It's too painful'
Once the “X player out of the World Cup” headlines are written, the media’s focus turns to what it means for the team. Which players will step up?
The injured player becomes little more than an aside. An asterisk to the main story.
For the most part, that suits them just fine. While the eyes of the world are fixed elsewhere, they are given space to
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