With these measures, amateur footballers can prevent serious injuries

• In the video above: Musiala's fibula fracture! First details on the injury drama

FC Bayern star Jamal Musiala suffered a serious injury in the quarterfinals of the Club World Cup against Paris Saint Germain in a collision with opposing goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. The 22-year-old apparently suffered a fracture of his left calf . He is expected to be out of action for nearly five months.

Musiala's injury is tragic and proves once again that injuries are unfortunately a part of the occupational hazard in professional football. According to the Berufsgenossenschaft Verwaltungs-Berufsgenossenschaft (VBG), players in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga suffer an average of 2.5 injuries per season, resulting in approximately one month off. Across both leagues, this amounts to 25,000 days of absence per season.

Tackling and contact with opponents, such as during jumps, headers, or landings, cause 50 percent of injuries. The other 50 percent are caused by the player's own fault, such as getting caught in the turf while sprinting or turning, or making an unfortunate stop.

Injuries to the thigh muscles are the most common, accounting for one-third of all injuries. These are followed by injuries to the knee joint (15.2 percent) and the ankle joint (12.9 percent).

Injuries are not uncommon in amateur football, although they differ from those in the top leagues. Amateur footballers typically suffer bruises, sprains, and skin injuries to their legs and feet – often caused by excessive or incorrect strain due to overly intensive training or training errors, writes orthopedic surgeon Wolfgang Willauschus in an article for the " Orthinform " portal.

The following factors increase the risk of injuries when playing football:

• Old
• previous injuries
• acute fatigue
• lack of or insufficient regeneration
• lack of fitness
• Obesity
• insufficient mobility
• Coordination weaknesses
• Knee problems
• wrong football boots

Some serious injuries – like Musiala’s – are sometimes difficult to avoid, except perhaps through greater consideration or foresight on the part of the opponents.

However, in order to better protect yourself from sports injuries, certain passive and active preventive measures are recommended.

Passive measures include the use of protective equipment, including:

• Shin guards: These protect against shin fractures. The " Safety in Sports " Foundation recommends wearing them not only during games but also during training. They also recommend shin guards with ankle protection.
• Proper footwear: Football players should wear footwear that's appropriate for the type of surface they're playing on. On grass, shoes with studs provide grip and stability, while studded shoes are suitable for artificial turf.
• Bandages : Wearing bandages or tapes, for example on the ankle, can also reduce the risk of injury – especially after previous injuries.

Active prevention measures concern specific movement patterns. These include:

Targeted warm-up: An insufficient warm-up significantly increases the risk of injury. The VBG recommends warming up thoroughly not only before training, but also repeatedly during training, for example, after breaks or when transitioning to new exercises.

"The regularity of the exercises is crucial," writes the VBG. "Generally, place coordination exercises before strength and endurance exercises."

How an effective and holistic warm-up program is structured – this is shown, among other things, by a study commissioned by VBG in 2020, in which 70 German football teams participated. They tested a training program for injury prevention for one season, which included modules such as

• Mobilization,
• core stabilization,
• Stand and leg axis stabilization
• as well as jump and landing training

contained.

Finally, it was found that the teams that participated in the training program had fewer and less frequent serious knee injuries.

There are also numerous other prevention programs, including Fifa 11+ . It consists of several coordination exercises that are performed as a warm-up and last between 15 and 20 minutes. Components include

• Running exercises (e.g., straight ahead, hip rotation outwards and inwards, side gallop, shoulder contact, forward and backward sprinting), duration: 8 minutes
• Strength, explosive strength and balance exercises (e.g. forearm planks, jumps, squats, one-legged stand), duration: 10 minutes
• Repeated running exercises (e.g. across the playing field, high jumps, changes of direction), 8 minutes

Strength training: In addition to warming up, strength training can also help prevent injuries because strengthened muscles protect the joints. For example, training your thigh muscles reduces the risk of knee injuries, while strong core muscles improve body stability.

Sleep: Adequate sleep is important for recovery, regeneration, and muscle building. Poor or insufficient sleep can impair concentration and often lead to injuries in soccer, especially later in the game.

Nutrition: A balanced diet helps to supply the body's energy stores and support the healing and recovery processes.

According to the DFB Academy , the most important nutrient sources for footballers are:

• Cereals, bread, pasta, rice provide carbohydrates, vitamins, fiber
• Vegetables (vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, fiber)
• Fruit (vitamins, carbohydrates, minerals, phytochemicals, fiber)
• Dairy products (proteins, fats, minerals, vitamins)
• Fish, meat, sausage (proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals)
• Oils, nuts, butter (fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals)