They are soccer players with the appearance of superheroes, and all for a necessary accessory for them: face protection masks. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, at the moment, two stand out, Heung-Min Son, Josko Gvardiol and Thomas Meunier.
Son was part of Thursday’s goalless draw between South Korea and Uruguay, while Gvardiol was with Croatia in the 0-0 draw against Morocco. Meunier played in Belgium’s 1-0 win over Canada.
The trio of masked players. Why?
The footballers suffered fractures to their faces, and face protection masks give them security against any inconvenience in the field.
In the case of Are, he had a fracture near his right eye in November, during Tottenham’s duel against Olympique de Marseille, in the Champions League. Gvardiol, a broken nose with RB Leipzig against Freiburg in the Bundesliga; Y Meunier, fracture in the malar region in the match of the German tournament between Borussia Dortmund and Hannover.
How do face protection masks like those seen at Qatar 2022 work?
They are usually made with carbon fiber and rubberized material. They are personalized thanks to a mold of the athlete’s face, which is then 3D printed.
These types of masks or similar ones are produced by companies such as FIIXIT. As the company explains, their objective is to “comfortably and selectively protect various injuries that can occur on the face, such as, for example, the fracture of the nasal septum or fracture of the cheekbone, the most common being the fracture of the nose of the face”.
The newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo spoke with Dr. Marcos Roberto Tavares, a head and neck surgeon at the Hospital das Clínicas in Sao Paulo. “When there is no fracture, it does not make much difference. But when there is a recent fracture, trauma to that site can re-displace the bone. So, the mask protects ”, indicates the expert.
“Today there are very good materials that are resistant to trauma, like a ball hit or an elbow hit.”
Face protection masks are ergonomic and comfortable, sThey fit perfectly to the face, do not give off odor and allow you to breathe and speak without problems.
Most importantly, they protect. As they are doing with Heung-Min Son, Thomas Meunier and Josko Gvardiol in Qatar 2022.