Amr Obaid (Cairo)
The Egyptian national team is playing a “fateful” confrontation against Cape Verde, at the end of the second group matches, in the first round of the African Cup of Nations, and the “Pharaohs” fear the “negative” impact of the absence of its first star, Mohamed Salah, due to injury, which may affect the chances of the “Pharaohs.” » To continue the tournament for advanced roles.
Football history books indicate that some major teams were exposed to a similar situation, but the effect differed between “shocks” that led to failure or “pushes” that led to achievement. Perhaps the most famous of these stories relates to the “legendary” Brazilian, Pele, who was considered the best player in the world. Before the 1962 tournament, Pele actually started the Chilean version in a “wonderful” way, scoring one goal and assisting another against Mexico, but a severe injury forced him to leave early in the Czechoslovakia match, and caused him to be excluded from the rest of the “Samba” matches, but his teammates succeeded in overcoming that “ “Shock,” and they continued their path, until winning the title. The funny thing is that Pele’s medal remained absent from him due to FIFA regulations at that time, until he obtained it in 2007, after 45 years!
What is interesting is that the matter was repeated in a “carbon image” in the 1966 World Cup, where the star and top scorer of the English national team, Jimmy Greaves, suffered a severe injury against France in the last group stage match, which prevented him from completing the World Cup, so his compatriot Geoff Hurst replaced him, and he shined. Especially strongly for the “famous hat-trick” in the final against Germany, and Greaves did not get his medal either, because he was not among the 11 players who played the final match, but FIFA presented the “legendary” Englishman with his medal in 2009.
This “sudden absence” with the England national team was repeated in a strange way in later years, as the “legendary” goalkeeper Gordon Banks glowed as usual at the beginning of the 1970 World Cup, and played the first 3 matches in the group stage, but he suffered a “strange” health crisis in his stomach, which forced coach Alf Ramsey was excluded from playing in the match against Germany in the quarter-finals, which the English lost, and it was rumored at the time that Banks was deliberately poisoned, so that he would miss the confrontation with “The Machines”, which was never proven.
As for the most unusual story, it was linked to the “Three Lions” in another era, as team captain Bryan Robson was glowing before the start of the 1986 World Cup, with his 5 goals in the European qualifiers, but his shoulder injury during the second match in the World Cup against Morocco prevented him from completing the tournament. The team lost to Argentina's “Maradona” in the quarter-finals, then Robson, known as “Captain Marvel”, returned to lead England in the 1990 World Cup. However, a new injury struck him in the second match also in the group stage against the Netherlands, which took him out of Bobby Robson's accounts until the end of the World Cup. Which the British finished in fourth place.
Maradona, Al-Dhahira, and Zidane… “severe blows”!
In the 1994 World Cup, Argentina suffered a “severe blow” when the “legendary” Maradona failed to pass the doping test after the second “Tango” match against Nigeria in the group stage, so the “magician” left the World Cup after only two matches, during which he scored one goal and made two assists, and he followed “ Albiceleste quickly gained its first star after the loss to Romania.
Although the “phenomenon” Ronaldo took pride in himself, and participated with Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final, after he was outside the starting lineup, 45 minutes before the start of the match, due to his poor health and his “famous” illness, he was “present and absent” against France, This affected the performance of the Seleção, which lost 0-3 at the time. The French “icon” Zinedine Zidane was exposed to a similar situation, when he was injured in a friendly match against South Korea a few days before the 2002 World Cup, and “Zizou” missed the first two matches. With the “Roosters”, he returned without fully recovering in the third confrontation against Denmark, but he did not succeed in saving France from early exit and bottom of his group.
Finally, in the 2014 World Cup, the “Latin duo”, Brazil and Argentina, suffered two very influential injuries during the two quarter-final matches, as the brilliant “Seleção” star at the time, Neymar, suffered a fracture in his back during the match against Colombia, ending his World Cup career at that time and witnessing it as a “spectator.” » The team’s horrific fall against Germany in the “Historic Sevens” semi-final, while Angel Di Maria suffered a tear in his thigh muscles in the Belgium match, and he also missed the rest of Argentina’s matches in the tournament, which greatly affected the performance of “Tango” in the final. Which he lost to Germany.
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