” I feel his pain”- Chelsea icon empathises with Ben Chilwell after injury vs Zagreb

Joe Cole feels for Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell picking up a hamstring injury against Dinamo Zagreb

Speaking on BT Sport after the game (h/t BBC), former Chelsea star Joe Cole feels for Blues defender Ben Chilwell for picking up a hamstring injury against Dinamo Zagreb.

In the stoppage time of the second half, Chilwell required medical assistance to get up after picking up a hamstring injury. It was a sad ending to a game in which the Blues won 2-1.

With the World Cup starting in less than three weeks’ time, the Englishman may not have enough time to recover from this injury to represent his country. Although we would reserve judgement on that until the full diagnosis is done, hamstring injuries do take at least two to three weeks to recover at the minimum.

Here’s Cole after he felt disappointed by this injury and what it could mean for Chilwell (h/t BBC):

“Horrible sight for Ben Chilwell. I feel his pain. I had problems at the back end of my career.

“It’s heart-breaking. As soon as it happens all you can think about is that it is so close to a World Cup.

“If it’s a hamstring injury usually the least you can hope for is 2-3 weeks before you get back onto the pitch. It’s really tough. I really feel for him.”

A tournament as big as the World Cup comes around every four years. So, any player who misses it due to an injury would be heartbroken.

The good thing from Chilwell’s viewpoint is that he is still 25 years old. Hence, even if he misses going to Qatar, he could get another chance to play in this showpiece tournament in four years’ time.

It has been a rough year for the former Leicester City defender injury-wise, having picked up a ruptured cruciate ligament that kept him out of action between November 2021 till the end of last season.

He was used sparingly so far this season starting only nine of the 18 games in all competitions. Having done all the hard work to recover, it would be devastating if he misses the World Cup due to this hamstring injury.

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If that turns out to be the case, England could be without two top-class wing-backs from Chelsea because Reece James is ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury barring any miraculous recovery.