Afternoon News: On Suazo, CD9, Gooch, Holden, Rico, and Deuce

Some more news and notes to get you through the afternoon:

Suazo's World Cup Status in Doubt

The USMNT isn't the only CONCACAF team dealing with injury issues ahead of South Africa.  Honduras striker David Suazo may not be fit for the World Cup after suffering a leg muscle injury with Serie A side Genoa.  While he scored just one goal in the final round of CONCACAF qualification, Suazo represents one of the most talented options up front for Los Catrachos, while also adding a good deal of international experience, so his loss would a pretty significant one for the Group H underdogs.

Suazo remains optimistic that he will be able to play in the World Cup, Honduras' first since 1982.  Though they are our CONCACAF rivals, I find myself pulling for Reinaldo Rueda's side, and so I'm hoping that Suazo can make a full recovery.  Success for CONCACAF teams will eventually help the US in terms of ranking, which could then possibly even lead to a seed in 2014, so you shouldn't feel too conflicted about pulling for Los Catrachos against Spain, Chile, and Switzerland.  Heck, even a deep run from Mexico would help us out in the long run, though I don't think many of us (myself included) will be really hoping for that come June. 


Charlie Davies Confusion

There was a good deal of worrying amongst USMNT fans this morning when a report out of France had Sochaux President Alexandre Lacombe stating that Davies "will not play this Ligue 1 season" because it is "too soon for a return."  Not exactly what fans hoping to see a stanky legg at the World Cup were hoping to hear.  That statement left many believing that, after such a remarkable recovery to this point, Charlie would ultimately be unable to make it to South Africa, which in turn set off a ton of panicky conversations on replacement options across the interwebs.

But not so fast.  Thanks to the persistence of Greg Seltzer over at No Short Corners, we now know that Lacombe's statement was not based on any type of medical information, but rather it was simply his personal belief on the matter.  So, Charlie could still very well be on track for an end of season appearance and, by all indications, still seems to be on course for the May USMNT camp.  Via Twitter, Davies had this to say, which further expresses that things are still going according to plan:

"Just to let you all know I'm progressing very well and lucky not to have had any setbacks and I'm working extremely hard every day.  Believe!!!!!"

Ultimately, this a non-story in that there really isn't much of an update on how Davies is faring in his quest to return to full fitness and form.  Lacombe's conservative attitude is to be expected, given that CD9 is a long term investment for the club, and therefore we probably shouldn't read too much into this.  To this point, Charlie has silenced almost every single person who has doubted his ambitions, and this may just serve as further motivation in the stretch run.  Until I hear someone with a medical background giving a factual explanation of why the World Cup is not within his reach, I will remain optimistic that Davies will at least be in the May camp to make his pitch for a spot on the plane.


Clark May Be In Line For Debut

In an interview with the team website, Frankfurt manager Michael Skibbe said that he has been very pleased with Ricardo Clark's performance and training and that the Georgia native could get the start against Hoffenheim or Mainz in the coming weeks to prove himself in the Bundesliga.  With the Europa League all but out of reach at this point, Eintracht's final couple of games don't have much meaning, so it appears that Skibbe will be using them to see whether Rico is a player he'd like to keep around for the future (the club has an option to extend the contract for three more seasons).  This sounds a lot like something that a certain prescient, handsome blogger said earlier in the week.

Of course, a lot of us will only believe it until we see it, but it does really seem like Skibbe is set on giving Clark some minutes before season's end.  Eintracht's center mids have not been particularly stellar of late either, only serving as further impetus for such a move.  A nice couple of appearances in these last couple of weeks before international duty would go a long way towards earning a trip to South Africa, as Bob Bradley will certainly be watching closely to see how he once first-choice defensive mid has held up during months without competitive play. 


Onyewu and Holden Making Good Progress

According to reports out of Italy, Oguchi Onyewu is fully healthy and now working to regain his fitness, along with a couple of other AC Milan defenders.  He was in team training, taking part in some possession play, before eventually going off to do some individual work with a trainer.  With a real lack of fit center back options, Gooch might not even be too far away from being named to a squad.  I'm not saying I expect that to happen, or that that represents that he is ready for the World Cup, just that it reflects the depleted AC Milan back line.  Who knows, though, maybe we will get to see Onyewu's Serie A debut in the coming weeks.  Regardless, he appears to be making good strides toward South Africa.

Stuart Holden, meanwhile, is also doing well in his recovery from a broken leg.  Bolton manager Owen Coyle had this to say:

"Stuart is coming on leaps and bounds from where he was when he picked up the injury. He is getting stronger by the day, and although he isn't ready to join in with training today (Thursday), he is getting closer.  But what I would say to add balance is that we won't be rushing him into any game that he isn't ready to play in. We would love to have him fit and available to play a Premier League game before the end of the season but he is going to have to be at 100 percent because I won't jeopardise his long-term future."

Just some more positive news on the injury front (because at USSD, our glass is always is half-full).

Deuce Back for Fulham

As I'm writing this, Clint Dempsey just came on as a substitute for Fulham in what is currently a scoreless opening leg of their semifinal against Hamburg.  He's been involved in a couple of good build ups to this point.

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My apologies for the foreign language links; I'm hoping you're all trilingual with German and Italian and didn't mind at all.

Enjoy the evening, folks.