It starts in two weeks Football World Cup in Qatar (20 November to 18 December). The highlight of the year for many stars and fans.
For a top clipper, however, the dream of a World Cup has just burst. As “TNT Sports Brasil” reports, Brazil star Philippe Coutinho (30) suffered a quadriceps injury in his right leg in training before his team Aston Villa won against Manchester United (3-1) in the English Premier League. Accordingly, the former star of FC Bayern Munich (season 2019/20) had to pause for at least six weeks because of the muscle injury, and participation in the upcoming World Cup was ruled out.
Then in the evening the confirmation: Coutinho is not in Brazil’s World Cup squad.
“Coutinho has a quadriceps injury. I don’t know how long he will be out, but he couldn’t play and will only play again after the World Cup break. It’s a muscle injury,” said Villa coach Unai Emery (51) about his attacking star’s injury.
Even before his injury, Coutinho was anything but smooth with the English side. Most recently, the Brazilian failed to perform. Under ex-coach Steven Gerrard (42, fired about two weeks ago), the 30-year-old found himself on the bench in the last few games and only made short appearances. His record this season speaks volumes: twelve games, zero goals, zero assists.
In the Selecao, however, Coutinho was one of the top performers, played in the World Cup qualifying games and scored two goals.
Coutinho had his best football moments at Liverpool FC (2013 to 2018) – that was four years ago. At FC Barcelona (change in 2018 for 135 million euros) he never really arrived and could not build on his performances with the “Reds”. A guest appearance at Bayern followed. Even then, he was rarely able to shine. Now he wants to get his career going again at Aston Villa – but only after the World Cup.
Coutinho isn’t the only top star who will miss the World Cup. Striker Timo Werner will be absent from the German team at the winter tournament. The two world champions Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté also have to pass injured for France. Also not there: Diogo Jota and Pedro Neto (both Portugal) as well as Lovre Kalinic (Croatia) and Ben Chilwell (England).
