Manchester City defender Ruben Dias may have played for the 90 minutes in all matches Portugal needed him in the World Cup, but that doesn’t mean he was fit in all of them.
The 25-year-old was interviewed this week by Portuguese outlet Eleven Sports (via A Bola), and revealed that he was injured in the final stages of the tournament.
“I think that, above all, it has to do with the context and the moment. It’s the World Cup, it’s a special competition. Probably the most special competition a player can play,” Ruben Dias told Eleven Sports.
“The Champions League is just as special, the Premier League is just as special, but the World Cup is only every 4 years… And really, I think it’s one of those occasions when, when possible, don’t even think twice: go for it. In fact, I, in the match against Switzerland, I think it was around 10 minutes, I got injured, I twinged my back.”
“But there it is: between also being able to manage that pain that I had, the limitations that I also had, jumping was a bit complicated, but running I managed to maintain a good level. And there it is, probably if we had moved on, I would have continued to be available. It’s one of those moments for your country, for the World Cup, it’s one of those moments when, if you succeed, at least in my mind, there’s not even another option.”
Ruben Dias started against Ghana and Uruguay in the group stage, as well as versus Switzerland in the round-of-16 and Morocco in the quarter-finals. He only missed the last group stage match against South Korea because manager Fernando Santos used an alternative team.
Back to Manchester City, it took a while for Ruben Dias to get into the pitch again, but that was a different problem.
With a thigh injury, he stayed out of Pep Guardiola’s side for seven matches, and only then became available to play.
Dias has 36 appearances for Manchester City this season, and is one of the pillars of a defence who only conceded 28 goals in their Premier League campaign so far.
