BEN CHILWELL RULED OUT FOR THE WORLD CUP IN QATAR
Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell has been ruled out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar due to a hamstring injury, the club confirmed recently.
The England international is set to miss the first winter World Cup in history after a scan on Friday revealed that the hamstring injury he suffered in midweek was a significant one. Chilwell went down in stoppage time during Chelsea’s champions league match against Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday, November 2nd. The 25-year-old grabbed his left hamstring after making a sprint and fell to the ground before he was helped off the field by Chelsea’s medical staff.
Chilwell was pictured leaving Stamford Bridge on crutches after the game and is set to be sidelined for at least two months.
Chelsea manager Graham Potter said of the injury on Friday: “He (Chilwell) is going to go for a scan later this afternoon. We’ll find out how he is then [and we’ll get an] update tomorrow [Saturday]. He feels okay but [is] obviously aware of the injury. We all saw the nature of the injury, I can’t say it looks positive.”
“Until you get the diagnosis you’re just hopeful,” Potter went on. “Fingers crossed [it’s not bad news] and then from there we see how to get him back fit and strong. It’s disappointing of course. It’s very difficult to play Premier League football or Champions League football and go at it half-hearted. That’s pretty much impossible and then at the same time you know there’s a World Cup a couple of weeks away. It’s a tricky position for everybody.”
Chelsea released a short statement on Saturday ruling out Chilwell’s availability for the World Cup, starting November 20. The statement read: “Following the injury sustained in our recent game against Dinamo Zagreb, Ben has undergone a scan on his hamstring. Results show that Ben has suffered a significant injury and the defender is unfortunately expected to miss the World Cup. Ben will now begin a rehabilitation program with the club’s medical department.”
The injury news is a massive blow for Chelsea who have been ravaged by injuries so far this season. Chilwell now becomes the seventh player to go down with injury after significant injuries to N’golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Wesley Fofana, Reece James, and Denis Zakaria.
This is, however, not Ben Chilwell’s first rodeo with injury. The Milton-Keynes-born defender also suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament injury in November last year that ruled him out until May. Chilwell said after news of his injury went public on Saturday: “Following my ACL injury, I worked so hard to make sure I was ready for the World Cup. It has always been a dream of mine. Unfortunately, this won’t be possible following my scan results. I’ll do all I can to get back playing for Chelsea ASAP. Thanks for the messages of support.”
Chilwell’s injury also poses some concern for England manager Gareth Southgate who now doesn’t have the option of another Chelsea fullback. Chilwell has been capped 17 times by England, scoring once, and was in their most recent squad in September. His teammate Reece James is also a major doubt for the Qatar tournament after suffering a knee injury and Manchester City right-back Kyle Walker is also struggling with a groin injury.
Southgate has his work cut out for him defensively and will have to rely on youth during the tournament as England look to make a title charge in Qatar. Players like AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori (24), Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell (23), and Marc Guehi (22) are all options for the injured starters defensively. Although best utilized going forward, Southgate also has the option of using Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka (21) at left wing-back in his preferred 3-5-2 formation.
The final FIFA deadline for World Cup squads is November 13, a week before the tournament kicks off on November 20.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Дмитрий Пукалик. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.