As everyone knows in the football world, international breaks are a long 10 days or so to have to wait with no domestic football.
The other key downside for those more interested in their club than country is the injury toll beloved international breaks have on their players.
In the match hosted by Hellas Verona against Napoli this weekend, the home team is relatively undisturbed by the break just gone.
Napoli, on the other hand, could have been dealt some crushing blows. The biggest news for them surrounds in-form and club leading goalscorer Gonzalo Higuain. Playing against Brazil, Higuain picked up a foot injury and did not train with the side, but is expected to line up in the Argentine squad.
This would not exactly please Maurizio Sarri who would much prefer to have Higuain rest and be back in Italy ready to continue Napoli’s title tilt. Playing against Colombia would be presumed as a bit of a risk for Napoli’s front man and he may even require resting after the break if he plays major minutes in the international.
Although Napoli still have a large quantity of quality in their team, Higuain has played almost every game and to replace him for any period of time will affect their potency up front.
The second issue for the Partenopei is Dries Mertens’ injury. Napoli and Belgium are currently at loggerheads on when the injury happened, but either way he is expected to be out for at least three weeks, ruling him out until early December.
His torn thigh muscle will cause a few headaches for the club as it continues its hunt for Serie A supremacy. Although not being a regular starter for the club this season, Mertens has been regularly coming off the bench around the 60-minute mark and adds flair. He has also been hitting his strides through the group stages of the Europa League.
Napoli fans would have been concerned to hear the news that club captain Marek Hamsik also returned home from Slovakia duty early. In positive news, however, this was a preplanned agreement between club and country after he played in the majority of Slovakia’s win over Switzerland.
Following this break, players will be on edge mentally like the rest of the world following the attack on Paris at the Stade de France as well as Wednesday morning’s (Australian eastern daylight time) evacuation of Hannover Stadium.
Although none of the players in the Verona versus Napoli match were involved in the incidents, there is still an element of worry from spectators and players alike. It is just another element that team administrators will have to think about when getting their players back and preparing for the match.
But as any Liverpool fan would tell you, international breaks are the devils when it comes to injuries for clubs, and in this case it could seriously hurt Napoli’s title aspirations.
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