Injuries- How will they change the outcome of the World Cup, if at all?

I have been very curious if anyone has done a study about how many more injuries professional soccer players have in the 6, 8, 12 months before a World Cup tournament, compared to the 3 years in between.  I am not sure if it is just the time of year when people pay more attention to the injured players, or if in fact, there are more injuries due to the pressure of making the World Cup squads.

The Netherlands, Germany, Mexico and England have been hit hard with injuries.  France just took a big blow with the loss of Ribery.  Portugal is broadcasting that Ronaldo has a nagging leg injury, and he has been sitting out of the send off games, but who knows if that is just to protect him from getting hurt in the first place.  I wouldn't blame them if that is what they were trying to do, except for the fitness factor, and of course the team working as a unit.

No doubt, the men from every country have been killing themselves for over a year to make it to the Cup, make the final roster, make it into the starting line up...and no matter how much I like the idea of non-USA rosters weakening down to a B squad level, its sad that the Cup won't have the top talent from every qualifying country.

Hopefully the USA get an injury free victory this evening vs. Nigeria, another World Cup bound team, sure to show how effective we can be against the best of the best.

KEEP THE TRAIN ROLLIN USA!!

I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!!