WORLD CUP WATCH: Club season ready to pause, injuries mount
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By STEVE DOUGLAS
AP Sports Writer
There’s only one week to go before coaches of World Cup teams finally get their hands on their players ahead of a truncated build-up to the tournament in Qatar. Some players might have checked out from club play already. Lionel Messi, Aleksandar Mitrović and Thomas Müller weren’t risked by their respective clubs over the weekend with the World Cup starting on Nov. 20. Expect to see a slew of World Cup-bound players absent from lineups for precautionary reasons when league and cup games are played during midweek and over the weekend in England, Spain, Italy and Germany.