Pogba ruled out as overloaded teams limp into World Cup

MILAN, Italy — With Paul Pogba becoming the latest star name to withdraw from the Qatar World Cup, concerns are increasing over the controversial midseason scheduling of the FIFA showpiece as clubs blame rising injuries on a fixture pileup.

On Monday, Pogba's agent announced the 29-year-old midfielder needs more time to recover from knee surgery.

"After medical exams yesterday and today, it is extremely painful to announce that Paul Pogba needs more rehabilitation after his operation," said the player's agent, Rafaela Pimenta.

"For this reason, Paul will not be able to join Juventus' squad before the World Cup break nor the French national team in Qatar."

Pogba hasn't played for Juve since re-signing for the Turin giant from Manchester United in the summer, hurting the meniscus in his right knee in July.

He initially elected not to go under the knife in a bid to make the Qatar tournament which kicks off on Nov 20.

Pogba was a key member of the France team that won the World Cup in Russia four years ago. He scored in the 4-2 victory over Croatia in the final.

His absence from Didier Deschamps' squad adds to that of midfield partner N'Golo Kante, who has been ruled out for four months following hamstring surgery.

The 31-year-old Kante had not featured for Chelsea since limping off against Tottenham in August.

France could also be without Manchester United defender Raphael Varane. Last month, Varane limped off against Chelsea, sinking into his shirt to hide his tears.

He may have been lucky, with an initial diagnosis of a small hamstring tear giving him a chance of making it to Qatar. Many more have not been so fortunate.

Uruguay will be without Ronald Araujo and Portugal is shorn of Diogo Jota.

Germany has concerns over the fitness of Bayern Munich duo Manuel Neuer and Leroy Sane.

Meanwhile, England manager Gareth Southgate's prediction of a catalogue of injuries for the Three Lions is proving prescient with Reece James, Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips major doubts.

"What we see is a really packed schedule now with a lot of players playing a lot of minutes," said Southgate earlier this month.

"I think realistically we will lose more. It's so intense, and the players are playing so much football."

No letup

The uprooting of soccer's traditional calendar to fit in a first-ever midseason World Cup has resulted in fixture congestion at club level and little time to prepare for international managers.

Europe's major leagues will pause just a week before the World Cup kicks off.

To make space in the schedule, the group stages of European club competitions were squeezed into a two-month period. As a result, many clubs will have played 13 times in 42 days before the World Cup break.

"I am pretty sure they have one eye on the World Cup," said Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. "Now it is just two or three weeks before the end, so it is the last effort. I always say the best way to not get injured is to be focused and give your maximum in the game. When you lose the attention is when you are at risk."

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp claimed his players remain "1,000 percent" committed to the cause at club level.

But Klopp has pointed to injuries and players playing too often as the major factor behind his side's wretched start to the season.

"With the amount of games we have some players are overplayed," said the German after Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Leeds.

Heading into the final games of the Champions League group stage this week there were four places in the last 16 still up for grabs.

Many more games have top spot in the group or a place in the Europa League in the new year on the line.

But the fixture pile-up leaves countries wounded by the loss of stars for soccer's marquee event, and clubs wary of players protecting themselves to be fit for the World Cup.

"It is a very intense period of the season with too many games in my opinion," said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.

For those headed to the Middle East, there is no letup once in Qatar either. Most sides face playing their three group games in just eight days.

According to a report earlier this year by global players' union FIFPro, 54 percent of players said they had suffered an injury due to schedule overload, while 82 percent of coaches said they observed mental health issues in players caused by playing too many games.

AFP