If we had to pick a theme song for the early going of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, "If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)" would be a good choice.

Not just in the figurative sense that in the first week of matches goal scoring was higher in Brazil than it was four years ago in South Africa.

I mean actual blood, like the kind you’re more used to seeing spilled in a hockey game or a combat sport like boxing or MMA.

You hear a lot of complaints about players flopping and faking injuries in order to stall. Yes, there is that.

But unless these guys are carrying around bottles of ketchup in their shorts, it’s pretty easy to tell a lot of the soccer injuries are real. The so-called "Group of Death" could also be named the "Group of Bloody Head Wounds."

There was American Clint Dempsey’s bloody broken nose against Ghana in the first round. He played through it and, fortunately for the U.S., he will be back Sunday against Portugal.

German Thomas Muller — who had earlier scored three goals against Portugal — was bleeding profusely after taking an elbow to the head at the end of his match against Ghana on Saturday. In his previous game, Muller was head-butted by Portugal’s Pepe … while he was on the ground.

Pepe was red-carded for that, disqualifying him for Sunday’s match. With a win, the Americans will advance out of group play. But the U.S. will also be short-handed. Striker Jozy Altidore is out with a hamstring injury.

Not that Group G owns a monopoly on injuries; Steve von Bergen headed home to Switzerland after the defender got kicked in the face and suffered a broken bone in a loss to France.

Of course, soccer injuries are nothing new. Terry Butcher, England’s middle back in 1989, might be the poster boy for playing through a nasty wound. In a World Cup qualifier, he stayed in the game after a quick stitching of a head gash suffered early in the match. He continued heading the ball, opening the stitches. By halftime of what wound up being a 0-0 tie, Butcher’s white jersey was soaked red. But he played on.

Brian Ching, the U.S. 2006 World Cup team member and MLS star from Haleiwa and Kamehameha, told me about his two facial reconstruction surgeries the way the rest of us might lament the common cold. 

THE SCARIEST and most alarming injury in early 2014 World Cup play came when Uruguay midfielder Alvaro Pereira appeared to be knocked out cold when he took a knee to the temple against England on Thursday — but he went back into the match despite obvious concussion symptoms and the objections of a team doctor. That rightfully spurred criticism of FIFA and calls for a mandatory substitution rule in such situations.

Violent collisions are inevitable as the planet’s best national teams try to jostle their way to the championship.

Soccer — especially with this much at stake — is not for the faint of heart. The competitors play with little gear and no fear.

We were reminded this week that the beautiful game can also be quite gruesome.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. Read his blog at staradvertiser.com/quickreads.