Injury Updates: Benny's Back

Some updates on the injured players currently in my final 23:

Benny Feilhaber

After a couple of weeks on the sidelines following an ankle injury, Feilhaber made his first appearance of the spring for AGF Aarhus in their 4-0 victory over Esbjerg.  He came on as a substitute in the 69th minute and added some instant offense, earning a corner with some clever touches that would lead to Aarhus' second goal.   Following the game, Feilhaber spoke with a reporter on his appearance, as well as the health of his ankle; you can watch the interview here.  One less injured player, one less cause for concern for USMNT fans and coaches alike.

Stuart Holden

It was reported earlier today that Holden is now walking without crutches, a little less than two weeks after getting his cast off.  The timetable for his recovery was initially believed to be about 6 weeks, so Holden appears to be on schedule to return to full health in time for a couple of late season EPL appearances ahead of South Africa. 

Oguchi Onyewu

Gooch was in LA last weekend, taking in the Galaxy opener with some Beckham guy at the Home Depot Center.   He was also spending some time with the USMNT medical staff, with plans of returning to Milan later in the week.  Via his newly created Twitter account @OguchiOnyewu5 (gotta love it when more USMNT players get on Twitter; now we need Timmy, Boca, Bradley, etc. to join the party), Gooch said: 

Thank you for all the concern/support for my injury. I will be returning to regular training in the very near future! God is good!!

Read into that what you will, but it seems like a very good bet at this point to say that Gooch will be healthy for South Africa.  Now, the concern shifts to whether he can crack the AC Milan lineup in the final month and a half of the season to earn some competitive minutes ahead of international duty.  The Milan back line has been hit with some injuries of late, but it will still be an uphill climb to get the nod from Leonardo, who didn't seem to be too high on Onyewu prior to his injury in the fall.  

Michael Bradley

Bradley missed out on this past weekend's game for Borussia Monchengladbach thanks to card accumulation, but it wouldn't have mattered much given the broken nose he suffered in training last week.  He should be back to full health soon, but he may have to wait until next weekend to return to the lineup.  That's because in Bradley's absence, center midfielders Thorben Marx and Marcel Meeuwis played well in BMG's 1-0 victory over sixth place Hamburg.  Prior to his injury, Bradley had a few less than stellar appearances, so I wouldn't be surprised if manager Michael Frontzeck sticks with what worked for the time being while Bradley finishes healing up.  It could potentially lead to him making his return in a midfield battle against USMNT teammate Ricardo Clark and Frankfurt on April 9 (that is, if Rico ever gets off the bench).  All in all, though, there shouldn't be too much concern with regards to Bradley's health.

Charlie Davies 

I'd be remiss if I didn't dedicate some time to the main subject of USMNT injury worries over the past five and a half months.  Chuck continues to make a stunningly smooth and rapid recovery, completing rehab a little over a week ago and beginning individual workouts with the Sochaux training staff.  Davies expects to take part in full training after three weeks of the individual stuff, which would mean he'd be back at it with his teammates in about two weeks' time.  It's utterly incomprehensible that we're at this point so soon after a life-threatening accident, but the way he's progressing and the confidence he has expressed in regaining his technical abilities has me firmly believing that he'll make at least one appearance for Sochaux before the end of the Ligue 1 season.  With Les Lionceaux firmly planted mid-table and safe from relegation barring a cataclysmic collapse, there should be a couple of meaningless games at the end of the season that would provide the perfect opportunity to give Davies some minutes and reward him (and, indirectly, the training staff) for all the hard work over the last couple of months.