Cologne's football stars under pressure: injuries and return uncertainties!

Cologne's football stars under pressure: injuries and return uncertainties!

The 1st FC Köln started on Monday afternoon earlier than planned to prepare for the second division top game against SC Paderborn. Coach Gerhard Struber decided to delete the days off originally intended for this week after the team had to accept a 1-2 defeat against SC Verl last weekend. The training started at 3 p.m. in first place at the Geißbockheim.

The team -related situation of the team makes preparation particularly challenging. Players like Dominique Heintz (muscle injury), Linton Maina (ankle injury) and Luca Kilian (cruciate ligament tear) had to take part in a unit for rehabilitation, while striker Damion Downs could not take part in the broken wrist after his operation and trained individually. Joël Schmid failed due to an illness, which also contains the situation in central defense before the game against Paderborn. Eric Martel, Jan Thielmann (both U21 Germany) and Mathias Olesen (Luxembourg) will only return to training on Thursday, which means that they only have two units before the game. Learst Pacarada (Kosovo) is expected to start training again on Tuesday. The U21 players Oliver Schmitt, Emir Kujovic and Mikail Özkan were also active in professional training.

Julian Pauli: A problem child of the association

Another critical point for 1. FC Köln is the situation of Julian Pauli. The 19-year-old player has established himself in the StageMelf this season, but has been missing since December 2022 due to severe concussion. This injury was the result of a collision with Marton Dardai in the DFB Cup, and Pauli continues to suffer from dizziness and general discomfort. Several attempts to gradually insert him into training failed due to recurring complaints with higher intensity.

The association has taken extensive diagnostic measures, but the diagnosis remained unobtrusive. Now international experts are to help clarify the situation so that Pauli can be integrated into training as soon as possible. Trainer Gerhard Struber emphasizes the need to take the time and has not set a fixed time limit for Pauli's return. The training pollution should be gradually increased to avoid symptoms.

injuries in football: Prevention is the key

The challenges of the injury -plagued squad are in line with a wider trend in football. Sports injuries, especially in the area of ​​the lower extremities, represent a significant problem. Around 7 million footballers play in the club in Germany, and according to Safety Sport , most accidents appear on the sports field. Almost 40% of the injured players are affected by broken bones, with frequent injuries and fractures and ruptures.

In order to prevent injuries, it is advisable to integrate training and warm-up programs such as FIFA 11+, the neuromuscular warm-up program "knee control" and other specific programs that targeted injury prophylaxis. These approaches have shown that they can effectively contribute to injury prevention.