What is pubalgia injury affecting Cole Palmer and Lamine Yamal

Europe’s brightest young stars may be hampered from lighting up their first World Cups by an injury that once plagued Lionel Messi.

Cole Palmer, Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and Franco Mastantuono have all had injury-hit seasons after being diagnosed with ‘pubalgia’.

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Chelsea’s talisman, Palmer, has missed over 20 games for club and country this campaign through injury – most notably, groin problems.

At the start of April, the England international admitted that even when he had played, he could not shoot or pass without feeling pain.

Yamal, meanwhile, is nursing a hamstring injury months after undergoing a specialised procedure for a groin issue in November.

Barcelona‘s heir to Lionel Messi suffered from groin problems a year older than the Argentine, who opened up on his struggles in 2019.

“Pubalgia is complicated,” Messi previously said. “I have suffered from it for a while now. I do little training, and I can not play all the games.

“It is not a problem that can be solved overnight. I feel better now, but I still have not recovered, and I still need treatment.”

What is pubalgia?

Doctor Fabio Tenore, head of Udinese‘s medical department, explained to talkSPORT.com during the club’s international media days event: “The first thing in groin pain is it’s a syndrome.

“You have to understand which is the cause. So when you say groin pain, that means pain in the groin area.

“It could be a lumbar problem. It could be a prostate problem. Usually, it’s a rectus adductor problem.”

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How do you treat it?

“So a disequilibrium of the two muscles that bring to a tendinopathy,” he continued. “It could be a case of one leg smaller than another.

“So all these cases, once you understand which is the cause, you can go to treat it.

“In Spain, usually when it’s chronic, they cut the two adductors because it’s easier to cut them than to recubalate the function.

“If it’s a spine problem, usually with specific therapy, osteopathic therapy, it can go away.

“There have been cases where it’s the entrapment of the nerve.

“So you do the disentrapment of the nerve, or if it’s a prostate problem, you cure the prostate problem.”