JAKARTA - Since the beginning, the 2022 World Cup has been very unique because it was held at the end of the year when most league competitions in the new world were running.
Qatar's weather in the middle of a year that was too hot for most World Cup participants to make this four-year tournament pushed back to November and December which was more cool.
For the first time the World Cup, which was also first held in the Middle East, was not held in the middle of the year.
This rather odd time has finally created problems for most participating teams who mostly rely on players playing in European leagues.
If in various previous World Cups it was held after the league was finished which is usually two months apart before the new season, then this time it will be held when the league competition is sailing.
This can make it difficult for players. They are required to be fit before the World Cup starts even though time is so critical considering the league competition is still running. The coaches also became worried that their players were tired or even injured so they could not strengthen the national team.
Quoting Antara, Friday, several star players seemed to really look after their injuries so they didn't appear as usual in the league competition. Virgil van Dijk for example. He was once reviled because this season was considered less fierce in guarding Liverpool's backline so the Reds started the season a bit stalled.
Van Dijk has a reason to keep from competing too often that he can lose his chance to appear in major tournaments like the World Cup.
He definitely remembers the incident on October 23, 2020 when the Everton goalkeeper who is also the England goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford, violently chased him until he was almost out of business for a full season.
Liverpool also lost their mainstay so they couldn't keep up the competition with Manchester City that season. Not only Liverpool, the Dutch were made difficult.
The injury killed Van Dijk's chances of strengthening the Netherlands in Euro 2020 last year. For the Netherlands itself, if there was a van Dijk, maybe their story would be much better than just reaching the round of 16.
Van Dijk's story is also the story of most other football players, especially those who play in the world's most competitive football leagues.
Stars such as Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Robert Lewandowski or Sadio Mane, could have had a scenario like Van Dijk two years ago.
Therefore, the next month is a very crucial time, how can they avoid an "accident" like Van Dijk two years ago.
The problem is, the next four weeks will also be the same period as the other weeks after the 2022 World Cup is over.
All players, including those who will appear in the World Cup as the mainstay of their respective teams, are required to give their best efforts so that their club positions in the league standings are getting better.
But what if it asks victims by the harm of a number of players who ironically become their mainstay? In fact, this has happened. Their absence has damaged the national team's performance when the international break arrived two weeks ago.
It took place in a number of games during the league's two-week gap, with the most obvious occurring in the Nations League or European Nations League recently.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
