Euro 2016 will start on June 10th and, even though there will be more national teams than ever before, there are some successful players who will not head to France to play this tournament.
For example, Fernando Torres won’t appear for Spain due to a technical decision on the manager's part. As another example, the host country France will not count on Karim Benzema and Mathieu Valbuena due to disciplinary reasons.
But the most common reason for players to miss this gala appointment is they have fallen injured in the final stretch of the season. We provide here an overview of key Euro 2016 injuries.
The national team that will have the most missed pieces is Italy, as it loses two midfielders who entered fully into Antonio Conte field tactics. They are Marco Verratti and Claudio Marchisio. Italy's coach should increase the share of responsibility of some other players, such as Riccardo Montolivo who plays in AC Milan, Daniele De Rossi who wears the Roma uniform, Fiorentina’s Federico Bernardeschi, or Jorginho who plays with Napoles.
Other injured players are Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from England, Vincent Kompany from Belgium, German Ilkay Gündogan and Spanish-Brazilian Diego Costa.
Key Euro 2016 Injuries
Marco Verratti and Claudio Marchisio (Italy)
Italy’s manager Antonio Conte cannot hide that this PSG midfielder is one of the 'Azzurra' cornerstones, but he has been forced to undergo surgery to solve his physical problems. This took several months and was caused by a groin injury that did not heal with more conservative treatments.
#Italy midfielder Marco #Verratti is set to miss #Euro2016 after opting to undergo surgery to fix a groin injury. pic.twitter.com/JFlllg2OTd
— Alex Capri (@alexcapri86) May 7, 2016
Conte must look for a suitable replacement for him as well as for Marchisio, who is also out for Euro 2016 because he suffered a left knee injury last April.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (England)
The England midfielder has been sidelined for three weeks, but it won't be enough recovery time to play in France 2016. Oxlade-Chamberlain fell again this month from a previous knee injury, which occurred in the Arsenal-Barcelona leg of the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League. He also missed 2014 World Cup due to injury.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is set to miss Euro 2016 with a knee injury #Euro2016 pic.twitter.com/RYmrSKmF9D
— Accumulator Tips⚽ (@bettingslip) May 6, 2016
Vincent Kompany (Belgium)
The Manchester City back will not be in the final stage of France 2016, and that is almost a tragedy to the Belgian squad because he is captain. Kompany went through nursing following a muscle injury to his right thigh, which came against Real Madrid in the second leg of the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League.
Vincent Kompany injury: Manchester City captain out for four months and… https://t.co/KZh9nXvcHO #OSmedia #OSmedia pic.twitter.com/OYVeIy6S9G
— Optimum Sports Media (@optimum_sports) May 8, 2016
Ilkay Gündogan (Germany)
Germany won’t count on this Borussia Dortmund midfielder, and it is because he suffered a dislocated kneecap. The injury occurred during a training session. Gündogan had already missed the 2014 Brazil World Cup due to a back injury.
Borussia Dortmund and Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has been ruled out of Euro 2016 with a serious knee injury pic.twitter.com/ysYdlq48AQ
— Omnisport News (@OmnisportNews) May 6, 2016
Diego Costa (Spain)
Spain manager Vicente Del Bosque said that Costa will not be 100 percent ready to play like the rest of the squad, so he decided to remove the Chelsea forward from the French event. Diego Costa suffered a torn hamstring, an injury that did not allow him to play some of the last games of the Premier League season. The Spanish-Brazilian player thought it was a minor injury.
Diego Costa will be in major doubt to be selected for Spain in the upcoming Euro's due to recent hamstring injury. pic.twitter.com/tyqc8ZkfH7
— Absolute Chelsea (@AbsoluteChelsea) May 12, 2016
Theoretically, these absences will reduce the chances of each of these national teams winning Euro 2016, but they may also provide opportunities for young players to shine.